A Chronology of the English Language

A Chronology of the English Language

449
Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain begins
450-480
Earliest Old English inscriptions date from this period
597
St. Augustine arrives in Britain. Beginning of Christian conversion
731
The Venerable Bede publishes The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in Latin
792
Viking raids and settlements begin
871
Alfred becomes king of Wessex. He has Latin works translated into English and begins practice of English prose. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is begun
911
Charles II of France grants Normandy to the Viking chief Hrolf the Ganger. The beginning of Norman French
c. 1000
The oldest surviving manuscript of Beowulf dates from this period
1066
The Norman conquest
c. 1150
The oldest surviving manuscripts of Middle English date from this period
1171
Henry II conquers Ireland
1204
King John loses the province of Normandy to France
1348
English replaces Latin as the medium of instruction in schools, other than Oxford and Cambridge which retain Latin
1362
The Statute of Pleading replaces French with English as the language of law. Records continue to be kept in Latin. English is used in Parliament for the first time
1384
Wyclif publishes his English translation of the Bible
c. 1388
Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales
1476
William Caxton establishes the first English printing press
1492
Columbus discovers the New World
1549
First version of The Book of Common Prayer
1604
Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, Table Alphabeticall
1607
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, established
1611
The Authorized, or King James Version, of the Bible is published
1702
Publication of the first daily, English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, in London
1755
Samuel Johnson publishes his dictionary
1770
Cook discovers Australia
1928
The Oxford English Dictionary is published