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400
43 The Romans invade Britain, beginning 400 years of control over much of the island.
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500
With the collapse of the empire.
Romans withdraw from Britain. Britons are attacked by the Picts and by Scots from Ireland. Angles, Saxons, and other German settlers arrive in Britain to assist the Britons and claim territory. -
500
The Old English
500-1100 The conquest of the Celtic population in Britain by speakers of West Germanic dialects -
Dec 15, 600
Germanic peoples
Speaking West Germanic dialects settle most of Britain. Celts retreat to distant areas of Britain: Ireland, Scotland, Wales.
500-600 -
Dec 15, 600
Ethelbert, the King of Kent, is baptized.
He is the first English king to convert to Christianity. -
Dec 15, 673
Birth of the Venerable Bede
the monk who composed -
Dec 15, 700
Rise of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex
the Saxon kingdoms of Essex and Middlesex; the Angle kingdoms of Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria. -
Dec 15, 800
Scandinavians begin
begin to settle in Britain and Ireland; Danes settle in parts of Ireland. -
Dec 15, 900
Egbert of Wessex incorporates Cornwall
his kingdom and is recognized as overlord of the seven kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons (the Heptarchy): England begins to emerge. -
Dec 15, 900
Danes raid England
occupy Northumbria, and establish a kingdom at York. Danish begins to influence English. -
Dec 15, 900
King Alfred of Wessex
leads the Anglo-Saxons to victory over the Vikings, translates Latin works into English, and establishes the writing of prose in English. -
Dec 15, 1000
English and Danes
mix fairly peacefully, and many Scandinavian -
Dec 15, 1066
The Norman Invasion
King Harold is killed at the Battle of Hastings, and William of Normandy is crowned King of England. -
Dec 15, 1100
Danes attack England
and the English king (Ethelred the Unready) escapes to Normandy. The Battle of Maldon becomes the subject of one of the few surviving poems in Old English. -
Dec 15, 1100
Edward the Confessor
King of England who was raised in Normandy, names William, Duke of Normandy, as his heir. -
Dec 15, 1100
The Middle English Period
1100-1500
The Middle English period saw the breakdown of the inflectional system of Old English and the expansion of vocabulary with many borrowings from French and Latin. -
Dec 15, 1150
Approximate date of the earliest surviving texts in Middle English
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Dec 15, 1171
Henry II declares himself overlord of Ireland,
introducing Norman French and English to the country. About this time the University of Oxford is founded. -
Dec 15, 1204
King John loses control of the Duchy of Normandy
other French lands; England is now the only home of the Norman French/English. -
Dec 15, 1209
The University of Cambridge is formed by scholars from Oxford.
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Dec 15, 1215
King John signs the Magna Carta
a critical document in the long historical process leading to the rule of constitutional law in the English-speaking world. -
Dec 15, 1258
King Henry III is forced to accept the Provisions of Oxford
which establish a Privy Council to oversee the administration of the government. These documents, though annulled a few years later, are generally regarded as England's first written constitution. -
Dec 15, 1300
Under Edward I
royal authority is consolidated in England and Wales. English becomes the dominant language of all classes. -
Dec 15, 1362
The Statute of Pleading
makes English the official language in England. Parliament is opened with its first speech delivered in English. -
Dec 15, 1399
At his coronation
King Henry IV becomes the first English monarch to deliver a speech in English. -
Dec 15, 1400
The Hundred Years War
between England and France leads to the loss of almost all of England's French possessions. The Black Death kills roughly one-third of England's population. -
Dec 15, 1500
William Caxton brings to Westminster
the first printing press and publishes Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Literacy rates increase significantly, and printers begin to standardize English spelling. -
Dec 15, 1542
Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge
Andrew Boorde illustrates regional dialects. -
Dec 15, 1549
The first version of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England is published.
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Dec 15, 1553
Thomas Wilson publishes The Art of Rhetorique
one of the first works on logic and rhetoric in English. -
Dec 15, 1577
Henry Peacham publishes The Garden of Eloquence, a treatise on rhetoric.
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The first grammar of English--William Bullokar's Pamphlet for Grammar--is published.
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Elizabeth I begins her 45-year reign as queen of England
The British defeat the Spanish Armada, boosting national pride and enhancing the legend of Queen Elizabeth. -
The Art of English Poesie
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William Shakespeare writes his Sonnets and the majority of his plays. 1590-1611
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The first English settlements
are made in North America. William Tyndale's English translation of the Bible is published. Many Greek and Latin borrowings enter English. -
The East India Company is chartered to promote trade with Asia, eventually leading to the establishment of the British Raj in India.
-
Queen Elizabeth dies and James I (James VI of Scotland) accedes to the throne.
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Robert Cawdrey's Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is published
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The first permanent English settlement in America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
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The first African slaves in North America arrive in Virginia.
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Weekly News, the first English newspaper, is published in London.
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The First Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays is published.
-
civil War breaks out in England after King Charles
I attempts to arrest his parliamentary critics. The war leads to the execution of Charles I, the dissolution of parliament, and the replacement of the English monarchy with a Protectorate (1653–59) under Oliver Cromwell's rule. -
The monarchy is restored; Charles II is proclaimed king.
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The Royal Society of London appoints a committee to consider ways of "improving" English as a language of science.
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The Great Fire of London destroys most of the City of London inside the old Roman City Wall.
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John Milton publishes his epic poem Paradise Lost.
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The Hudson's Bay Company is chartered for promoting trade and settlement in Canada.
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Aphra Behn, the first woman novelist in England, publishes Oroonoko, or the History of the Royal Slave.
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In his Essay Upon Projects
Daniel Defoe calls for the creation of an Academy of 36 "gentlemen" to dictate English usage. -
The Daily Courant, the first regular daily newspaper in English, is published in London.
-
The Act of Union unites the Parliaments of England and Scotland, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
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The first Copyright Act is enacted in England.
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Anglo-Irish satirist and cleric Jonathan Swift proposes the creation of an English Academy to regulate English usage and "ascertain" the language.
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Elisabeth Elstob publishes the first grammar of Old English.
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Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe, considered by some to be the first modern English novel.
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Nathaniel Bailey publishes his Universal Etymological Dictionary of the English Language,
a pioneer study in English lexicography: the first to feature current usage, etymology, syllabification, clarifying quotations, illustrations, and indications of pronunciation. -
Samuel Johnson publishes his two-volume Dictionary of the English Language.
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1760-1795 This period marks the rise of the English grammarians
whose rule books, primarily based on prescriptive notions of grammar, become increasingly popular. -
Robert Lowth publishes his Short Introduction to English Grammar.
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The Declaration of Independence is signed
the American War of Independence begins, leading to the creation of the United States of America, the first country outside the British Isles with English as its principal language. -
George Campbell publishes The Philosophy of Rhetoric.
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Noah Webster publishes his American Spelling Book.
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The Daily Universal Register (renamed The Times in 1788) begins publication in London.
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The English first settle in Australia, near present-day Sydney.
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Noah Webster publishes Dissertations on the English Language, which advocates an American standard of usage.
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The Observer, the oldest national Sunday newspaper in Britain, begins publication.
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The Act of Union incorporates Ireland into Britain, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
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The British occupy Cape Colony in South Africa.
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William Hazlitt publishes A New and Improved Grammar of the English Language.
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John Pickering compiles the first dictionary of Americanisms
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Noah Webster publishes his American Dictionary of the English Language. Richard Whateley publishes Elements of Rhetoric.