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Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
43 - 410 - Celtic Speech of the Britons during Roman Occupation -
Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
400 - 1500 - Anglo-Saxton Britain -
Old English (450 CE - 1066CE)
500 - 650 - Angles, Saxons, Jutes & Frisians settle in Britain, bringing dialects that become Old English. -
Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
550 - Borrowed words from narrative Romano-Britons; influence from Celtic languages or British Latin is disputed. -
Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
597 - Latinism -
Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
1000 - Beowulf was written down, but the poem was suspected to be created as early as the 700's -
Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
700 - Caedmon's Hymn - the oldest known English poem composed -
Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
800 - 1000 - Vikings invade eastern and northern England. A contact between Old English and Old Norse of the English case system. -
Old English (450 CE - 1066 CE)
1066 - Normans, Bretons and Frenchmen invade England and establish themselves the ruling class -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1150- Translation to Middle English-earliest surviving texts -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1066- The Norman Invasion -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1170- Introduction to Norman French and English; University of Oxford founded -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1387-1400- The Canterbury Tales by Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1436- Invention of the Printing Press -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1200-1450- As a result of the Norman conquest, French words began to enter English, including royalty, law and food items -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1215- King Johns Magna Carta; critical document in the ruling of the constitutional law in the English-speaking world -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
1204- England now only home for Norman French/English -
Middle English (1066 CE - 1450 CE)
Late 15th Century- The first printing press; printers begin to standardize English spelling -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1450- Translation to Early Modern English -
Early English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1500-1700- Great Vowel Shift 0ccurs, affecting all dialects of English -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1492- Discovery of the Americas -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1610-1790- Large scale migration from England to Northern America leads to new strains of English evolving there -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1623- Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1800- Translation to Late/Modern English -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1765- American Revolution -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1939-1945- World War II -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
1790-1950- English spreads across the world as a result of the British Empire -
Early Modern English (1450 - 1700) Late Modern English (1700 - Present)
2000's- English continues to spread through media, films, music and internet