The History of the English Language Timeline

By koopera
  • Old English Era (400–1100)
    500

    Old English Era (400–1100)

    Anglo-Saxon settlement of England
  • Old English Era
    750

    Old English Era

    Suspected date of Beowulf's writing
  • Old English Era
    871

    Old English Era

    King Alfred the Great reigns
  • Old English Era
    1066

    Old English Era

    The Norman Invasion
  • Middle English Era (1100–1500)
    1337

    Middle English Era (1100–1500)

    The Hundred Years’ War begins
  • Middle English Era
    1347

    Middle English Era

    The Black Death in England
  • Middle English Era
    1387

    Middle English Era

    Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
  • Middle English Era
    1440

    Middle English Era

    The invention of the printing press
  • Modern English Era (1500–2000)
    1492

    Modern English Era (1500–2000)

    The discovery of the Americas
  • Modern English Era

    Modern English Era

    Publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio
  • Modern English Era

    Modern English Era

    The Industrial Revolution begins in England
  • Modern English Era

    Modern English Era

    The American Revolution
  • Modern English Era

    Modern English Era

    The Victorian Era
  • Modern English Era

    Modern English Era

    World War II