History of English By yalel 450 Earliest Old English inscriptions 597 St. Augustine arrives in Britain 660 “Cædmon's Hymn” composed in Old English 1100 London becomes de facto capital of England 1167 Oxford University established 1362 English is used in English Parliament for the first time 1384 John Wycliffe publishes his English translation of “The Bible” 1388 Chaucer begins “The Canterbury Tales” 1590 William Shakespeare writes his first plays 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare’s works is published 1922 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) founded 1989 Second edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary” is published