-
This is the entire timespan for my assignment, 400 - 2012 AD.
-
A language that looks nothing like Modern English, Old English included extra letters and symbols that were no longer used once Middle and Modern English came around. One story written in Old English (and later translated) was "Beowulf", a story which started out being told orally. The word "water" came from Old English and many other Modern English words have Old English roots.
-
According to "The History of English" (the website), the earliest known Old English inscriptions were made between 450 and 480 AD.
-
In 597, during the Old English time period, St. Augustine came to England and founded the English Church. St. Augustine was not, however, the first person to bring Christianity to England. The change from paganism to Christianity can be seen in the written form of "Beowulf" through contrast between pagan symbols, such as pride, and Christian symbols, such as monotheism.
-
According to the Brittanica website, "Beowulf" was likely written in this timespan. However, this is highly debated as other sources say very different dates.
-
According to the ThoughtCo website, the English and the Danish got along well in the 10th century. This led to Old Norse words such as "sister" becoming a part of the English language.
-
Normandy invaded England in 1066 with the help of their Duke, William the Conqueror. This invasion helped the English language transition from "Old English" to "Middle English".
-
Middle English came about from The Norman Invasion. Middle English included French words and is more similar to Modern English than Modern English is to Old English. One example of Middle English is found in the General Prologue of "Canterbury Tales": "A Knyght ther was, and that a worthy man, / That fro the tyme that he first bigan / To riden out, he loved chivalrie..."
-
According to the website ThoughtCo, The University of Cambridge was "formed by scholars from Oxford" in 1209 AD. -
From 1347 to 1351 AD the Bubonic Plague killed many people all over Europe. This plague came from flea-infested rats which stowed away on ships traveling back to Europe.
-
In 1392, Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" came out. "Canterbury Tales" is a story about many different people from many different walks of life who participate in a story-telling competition while they are traveling together.
-
In 1440 Johannes Gutenberg, from Germany, invented the printing press. While Gutenberg often gets the credit for this idea, other printing methods had already existed for centuries earlier.
-
In 1492 Christopher Columbus "discovered" the Americas, which he at first thought was Asia. While he is often credited with this discovery, Vikings had landed at North America far earlier. In addition, Native Americans had been living in the Americas far before Columbus ever found them. -
Modern English came about from pronunciation changes and contact with other countries. In addition, the printing press helped establish Modern English so that it did not change as much as previous forms of English did.
Some phrases of popular Modern English of the 21st century include common phrases like "I drove my car to work at the office" and new words like "Poggers" (inspired by an emoji on the streaming app, Twitch). -
According to the website ThoughtCo, the first English-to-Latin wordbook was published by a monk known as Geoffrey the Grammarian in the late 15th century (1565 according to other sources). This wordbook was called Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae.
-
Shakespeare's First Folio was published after his death and contained 36 of his 37 plays. Some of these plays include: Macbeth, The Tempest, and Julius Caesar.
-
In the 18th century, the formerly British colonies in North America rebelled against Britain and fought for their independence. The country "The United States of America" was eventually formed after the colonies won the revolution at The Battle of Yorktown.
-
In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. The telephone has changed a lot since then, and now includes texting and internet usage.
-
According to the University System of Georgia, "January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet". The Internet, like books and plays before it, helped establish Modern English and prevent it from changing too much (as languages did before people could read and write).
-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, written by J.K. Rowling, was first published in 1997. This book, and the following books in the series, became extremely influential in the late 20th and the 21st centuries. Multiple movies were made and merchandise continues to sell even 24 years later.