The history of the English language timeline By Bronsonf Period: 400 to 1066 Old English 440 Famine and civil war break out in Britain 500 Suspected date of Beowulf's writing 527 The Angles found the Kingdom of Mercia 1016 Cnut becomes king of England Oct 16, 1066 Suspected date of The Norman Invasion Period: 1067 to 1485 Middle English 1375 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 1387 Suspected date of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales 1387 100 years war 1424 Joan of Arc experiences a vision 1440 The invention of the printing press Period: 1486 to 2000 Modern English Oct 12, 1492 The discovery of the Americas 1547 Death of Henry VIII 1623 Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio 1713 End of the War of the Spanish Succession Apr 19, 1775 The American Revolution Jun 28, 1914 World War l Sep 3, 1939 World War II
