History of the english language

The History of the English Language 400-2012

  • The Starting Point
    450

    The Starting Point

    Around 450 AD the island of Britain was settled by speakers of the ancestor of the English language the Anglo-Saxons.
  • Beginning of the Heptarchy
    500

    Beginning of the Heptarchy

    Anglo-Saxon England is split into the seven kingdoms of East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex and Wessex.
  • The Conversion of English
    597

    The Conversion of English

    Saint Augustine of Canterbury arrives in England to begin the conversion of the English
  • Synod of Whitby
    664

    Synod of Whitby

    The Synod of Whitby aligns the English with Roman rather than Celtic Christianity. Affecting the practices performed within the Church and the celebration of holidays such as Easter
  • New king
    716

    New king

    Ethelbald becomes King of Mercia, marking the beginning of the kingdom's ascendancy over the other Saxon realms.
  • The Epic Poem
    800

    The Epic Poem

    Beowulf is the longest epic poem in Old English, the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. It relates the exploits of its eponymous hero, and his successive battles with a monster named Grendel, with Grendel’s revengeful mother, and with a dragon which was guarding a hoard of treasure.
  • The Battle of Edington
    878

    The Battle of Edington

    The Vikings were defeated at the battle of Edington. Ending in the Treaty of Wedmore and the establishment of the Danelaw.
  • Charels II
    900

    Charels II

    Charles II of France grants Normandy to the Viking Chief Hrolf The Gange
  • Manuscripts
    1000

    Manuscripts

    The oldest surviving manuscripts of beowulf dates from the period
  • Early Mordern English
    1100

    Early Mordern English

    London becomes De Facto Capital of England
  • Middle English
    1150

    Middle English

    The Middle English is from 1150 to 1650
  • Central Middle English
    1250

    Central Middle English

    It is from 1250 to 1400
  • Britain broadcasting corporation
    1300

    Britain broadcasting corporation

    was a British commercial company. British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom and licensed by the British General Post Office. Its original office was located on the second floor of Magnet House, the GEC buildings in London and consisted of a room and a small antechamber.
  • The great Vowel shift begin
    1400

    The great Vowel shift begin

    The Great Vowel Shift was a series of changes in the pronunciation of the English language that took place primarily between 1350 and the 1600s and 1700s, beginning in southern England and today having influenced effectively all dialects of English.
  • Early Modern English
    1500

    Early Modern English

    from 1500 and 1800
  • Modern English

    Modern English

    modern English is from 1650 to 1800
  • newspaper

    newspaper

    Publication of the first daily English- language newspaper
  • Lewis and Clark

    Lewis and Clark

    Lewis and Clark document exploration of routes to American West.
  • second edition

    second edition

    Second edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary” published
  • Y2K

    Y2K