-
Second edition of the "Oxford English dictionary" published.
-
The first edition of the "Oxford English Dictionary" published.
-
Noah Webster publishes his "The American Dictionary of the English Language".
-
Lewis and Clark document exploration of routes to American West. (#2 historical event)
-
First English settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. (#1 historical event)
-
First folio of Shakespeare's works is published.
-
Publication of the first English-language newspaper, the "Courante" or "Weekly News". (#3 historical event)
-
Robert Cawdrey publishes the first dictionary "A Table Alphabet". (#2 historical event)
-
William Shakespeare writes his first plays.
-
"The Great Bible" published.
-
Start of English Renaissance.
-
Discovery of North America.
-
William Caxton established the first English printing press.
-
The Great vowel shift begins. (#1 historical event)
-
Chaucer begins "The Canterbury Tales".
-
English replaces Latin ad main language in schools (except oxford and Cambridge)
-
English is used in English Parliament for the first time. (#3 historical event)
-
The black death kills one third of the British population. (#2 historical event)
-
Cambridge University established.
-
The "ormulum" text of the monk orm completed.
-
Oxford University established.
-
Eleanor of Aquitaine, trench wife of Henry II, becomes Queen consort of England. (I can't find actual dates for the Middle English)
-
The oldest surviving manuscripts in Middle English date from this period. (#1 historical event)
-
London becomes de facto capital of England.
-
The oldest surviving manuscript of "Beowulf" dates from the period.
-
Charles II of France grants Normandy to the Viking chief Hrolf the Ganger (the beginning of Norman French. (#1 historical event)
-
The Danes launch full-scale invasion and occupy North Umbria.
-
Old English epic poem "Beowulf" composed.
-
"Caedmon's Hymn" composed in Old English.
-
Anglo-Saxton settlement (the Angles, the Saxons, the Frisians, and the Jutes) of Britain begins. (#3 historical fact)
-
Earliest old English Inscriptions. (#1 historical event)
-
Roman withdrawal from Britain.
-
Roman withdrawal from Britain.
-
The Norman conquest under William the conqueror.
-
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, established.
-
Death of William Shakespeare.
-
The American Revolution begins.
-
Last Native speaker of the Celtic Cornish language dies.
-
George Washington defeats Cornwallis at Yorktown and Britain abandons its American colonies.
-
British penal colony established in Australia.
-
United States ends slavery after Civil War. (#3 historical event)
-
Gisbourne, New Zealand population 32,754 is first city in the world to welcome in the new millennium
-
Passover Massacre: A suicide bomber kills 29 people in Netanya, Israel.
-
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
-
Former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow please guilty to defrauding Enron. Bush proposes ambitious space program that includes flights to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
-
English language Wikipedia reaches its on millionth article.
-
The Eyak language in Alaska becomes extinct as its last Native Speaker dies (Marie Smith Jones).
-
Israel begins an assault on the Gaza Strip.
-
Muslim gunmen in Egypt kills nine people after opening fire on a crowd of Coptic Christians.
-
Teachers and state employees protest in Wisconsin.
-
A suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus, Syria, killing 26 people and wounding 63
