The History of the English Language

  • 400 BCE

    Seeing English from Year 400

    Seeing English from Year 400
  • 500

    The Beginning of Old English

  • 580

    Beowulf's Writing

  • 1066

    The Norman Invasion

    The Norman Invasion
    Normandy invaded England
  • 1066

    The Beginning of Middle English

    A mixed language between English and French
  • 1440

    The invention of the Printing Press

  • 1476

    Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

  • Period: 1485 to

    Early Modern English

  • 1492

    The discovery of North America

  • Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio

  • First English Newspaper

    Publication of the first daily English-language newspaper, “The Daily Courant”, in London
  • The American Revolution

  • "The Times"

    First publication of “The Times” newspaper in London
  • End of Civil War

    United States ends slavery after Civil War
  • Dictionary

    First edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary” is published