Footsteps of the English Language By Pwnage895 436 Roman withdrawal from Britain complete Period: 450 to Mar 2, 2022 Earliest known Old English inscriptions May 20, 1066 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades and conquers England May 20, 1150 Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English May 20, 1348 English replaces Latin as the language of instruction in most schools May 20, 1362 English replaces French as the language of law. English is used in Parliament for the first time May 20, 1388 Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales May 20, 1400 The Great Vowel Shift begins May 20, 1476 William Caxton establishes the first English printing press May 20, 1564 Shakespeare is born May 20, 1604 Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is published May 20, 1607 The first permanent English settlement in the New World (Jamestown) is established May 20, 1616 Shakespeare dies May 20, 1623 Shakespeare's First Folio is published May 20, 1702 The first daily English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, is published in London May 20, 1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary May 20, 1776 Thomas Jefferson writes the American Declaration of Independence May 20, 1782 Britain abandons its American colonies May 20, 1828 Webster publishes his American English dictionary May 20, 1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded May 20, 1928 The Oxford English Dictionary is published Mar 2, 2022 Settlement of Britain by Germanic invaders begin
