Historical moments in History of English

  • Anglosaxon invasion
    449

    Anglosaxon invasion

    Used their own language instead of adapting to what the citizens of England used.
  • Cristians missionaries
    597

    Cristians missionaries

    Started to arrive in England. They had a large Latin vocabulary.
  • Vikings
    800

    Vikings

    Ruled most of the Eastern England.
  • William The Conqueror
    1066

    William The Conqueror

    Invades England.
  • Universities of Oxford and Cambridge
    1167

    Universities of Oxford and Cambridge

    Were founded in 1167 and 1209 respectively, and general literacy continued to increase over the succeeding centuries.
  • The Hundred Year War against France
    1337

    The Hundred Year War against France

    Had the effect of branding French as the language of the enemy and the status of English rose as a consequence.
  • Printing Press
    1476

    Printing Press

    The final major factor in the development of Modern English was the advent of the printing press.
  • Age of Shakespeare or Recovery of English
    1500

    Age of Shakespeare or Recovery of English

    Latin (and to a lesser extent Greek and French) was still very much considered the language of education and scholarship at this time, and the great enthusiasm for the classical languages during the English Renaissance brought thousands of new words into the language.
  • King James Bible

    King James Bible

    it is often considered a masterpiece of the English language, and many phrases from it have become well-used in every day speech. It is still considered by many to be the definitive English version of “The Bible”.
  • Golden Age

    Golden Age

    Newton wrote his “Opticks” in English, introducing in the process such words as lens, refraction, etc. Over time, the rise of nationalism led to the increased use of the native spoken language rather than Latin, even as the medium of intellectual communication.
  • Dictionary of the English Language

    Dictionary of the English Language

    The first dictionary considered anything like reliable was Samuel Johnson’s “Dictionary of the English Language”, published in 1755.
  • Modern English

    Modern English

    The 20th Century was, among other things, a century of world wars, technological transformation, and globalization, and each has provided a source of new additions to the lexicon.
    Later, the Internet it gave rise to (the word Internet itself is derived form Latin, as are audio, video, quantum, etc) generated its own set of neologisms.
  • Today

    Today

    The language continues to change and develop and to grow apace, expanding to incorporate new jargons, slangs, technologies, toys, foods and gadgets. In the current digital age, English is going though a new linguistic peak in terms of new word acquisition.