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731
The Venerable Bede
In his monastery at Jarrow, completes his history of the English church and people -
745
Beowulf
The first great work of Germanic Literature, mingles the legends of scandinavia with the experience in England and Saxon. -
950
The material of the Eddas
The history happened in Iceland with sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy. -
1300
Duns Scotus
Known as the Subtle Doctor in medieval times, later provides humanists with the name Dunsman or dunce -
1340
William of Ockham
Advocates paring down arguments to their essentials, an approach later known as Ockham's Razor -
1385
Chaucer
Chaucer completes Troilus and Criseyde, his long poem about a legendary love affair in ancient Troy -
1524
William Tyndale
William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg and plans to translate the Bible into English -
1567
Published in Welsh
The Book of Common Prayer and the New Testament are published in Welsh, to be followed by the complete Bible in 1588 -
Shakespeare achieves his first masterpiece
After tentative beginnings in the three parts of Henry VI, Shakespeare achieves his first masterpiece on stage with Richard III -
The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America
The poems of Massachusetts author Anne Bradstreet are published in London under the title The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America -
Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress
Part I of The Pilgrim's Progress, written during John Bunyan's two spells in Bedford Gaol, is published and is immediately popular -
John Locke publishes his Essay
John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience -
Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
25-year-old George Berkeley attacks Locke in his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge -
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, with its detailed realism, can be seen as the first English nove -
Encyclopaedia Britannica
A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland begins publication of the immensely successful Encyclopaedia Britannica -
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
English historian Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire -
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
English author Mary Wollstonecraft publishes a passionately feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman -
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice, based on a youthful work of 1797 called First Impressions, is the second of Jane Austen's novels to be published -
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus
Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, a Gothic tale about giving life to an artificial man -
Pickwick Papers
24-year-old Charles Dickens begins monthly publication of his first work of fiction, Pickwick Papers (published in book form in 1837) -
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin puts forward the theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species, the result of 20 years' research -
The Arabian Nights
Explorer and orientalist Richard Burton begins publication of his multi-volume translation from the Arabic of The Arabian Nights -
The Strange Case
Robert Louis Stevenson introduces a dual personality in his novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde -
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde publishes his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in which the ever-youthful hero's portrait grows old and ugly -
Dracula
English author Bram Stoker publishes Dracula, his gothic tale of vampirism in Transylvania -
The War of the Worlds
H.G. Wells publishes his science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds, in which Martians arrive in a rocket to invade earth -
The Voyage Out
The English writer Virginia Woolf publishes her first novel, The Voyage Out -
The Road to Wigan Pier
George Orwell reveals the harsh realities of contemporary British life in The Road to Wigan Pier -
The Second World War
Politician and author Winston Churchill completes his six-volume history The Second World War -
A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess publishes A Clockwork Orange, a novel depicting a disturbing and violent near-future -
The Sea, the Sea
Iris Murdoch publishes The Sea, the Sea, and wins the 1978 Booker Prize -
A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes
British physicist Stephen Hawking explains the cosmos for the general reader in A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes -
Trainspotting
Scottish author Irvine Welsh publishes his first novel, Trainspotting -
Copenhagen
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone -
The Amber Spyglass
The Amber Spyglass completes Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials
