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Period: 400 to
Timespan
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450
Start of the Old English Era
Eald is a word from the Old English Era. In modern English it would mean old. -
Jan 1, 700
Earliest manuscript records of Old Englsih
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Jan 1, 1000
Suspected Date of Beowulf's Writing
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Jan 1, 1066
The Norman Invasion
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Jan 1, 1100
Start fo the Middle English Era
Sample text from the Middle Englsih Era:
man com & se how schal alle ded li: wen yolk comes bad & bare
moth have ben ve awaẏ fare: All ẏs wermēs yt ve for care:—
bot yt ve do for god ẏs luf ve haue nothyng yare:
yis graue lẏs John ye smẏth god yif his soule hewn grit Modern English translation:
Man, come and see how all dead men shall lie: when that comes bad and bare,
we have nothing when we away fare: all that we care for is worms:—
except for that which we do for God's sake, we have nothi -
Jan 1, 1100
The Danish Attack England
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Jan 1, 1209
The University of Cambridge is formed
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Jan 1, 1362
The Statue of Pleading makes English the official language of England
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Jan 1, 1387
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
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Jan 1, 1399
King Henry IV becomes the first English monarch to deliver a speech in English.
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Jan 1, 1439
The Invention of the Printing Press
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Jan 1, 1492
The Discovery of the Americas
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Jan 1, 1500
Start of the Early Modern English Era
In the Early Modern English era, the second person singular was marked in both the present and past tenses with -st or -est. For example, in the past tense, walkedst or gav'st. -
"Weekly News", the first English newspaper, is published in England
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Publication of Shakesphere's First Folio
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The Great London Fire
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The American Revolution
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Start of the Late Modern English Era
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Text messaging is introduced
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Scandinavians begin to settle in Britain and Ireland
