The History of the English Language Timeline By HaydenSmith$ Period: 400 to 1100 Old English Era (400–1100) 793 Viking raids on England begin 960 Construction of Westminster Abbey begins 1000 Suspected date of Beowulf 1066 The Norman Invasion Period: 1100 to 1500 Middle English Era (1100–1500) 1215 Signing of the Magna Carta 1337 Hundred Years’ War begins 1400 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales 1440 The invention of the printing press 1492 Discovery of the Americas Period: 1500 to 2000 Modern English Era (1500–2000) 1623 Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio 1760 Industrial Revolution begins 1776 The American Revolution 1876 Invention of the telephone 1939 World War II 1945 end of World War II
