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700
Approximate date of the earliest manuscript records of Old English
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730
Scandinavians begin to settle in Britain and Ireland, Danes begin to settle in Ireland
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1000
Old English poem Beowulf
Approximate date of the only surviving manuscript -
1066
The Norman Invasion
The Norman Invasion created the Modern English that we know today -
1150
Approximate date of earliest surviving texts in Middle English
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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. -
1387
The Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer
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1399
King Henry IV Coronation
He becomes the first English Monarch to deliver a speech in English -
1440
The Printing Press was invented by Johannes Gutenburg
The printing press was a major accomplishment in the English language because they could mass produce books, and newsprint. -
1492
North America was Discovered
Christopher Columbus discovered North America in 1492 -
William Bullokar's Pamphlet for Grammar
The first book for English grammar published -
The first permanent English settlement in America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
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First Copyright Act
The first copyright act is enacted in England -
Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson publishes his two-volume Dictionary of the English Language. -
Period: to
The American Revolution
Americans developed their own idiom, accents and vocabulary after declaring themselves independent from England -
First Dictionary of Americanisms
John Pickering compiles the first dictionary of Americanisms. -
Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio
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The Oxford English Dictionary is published.
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The number of speakers using English as a second language exceeds the number of native speakers
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The second edition of The Oxford English Dictionary is published.
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The Oxford English Dictionary Online is made available to subscribers
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The two-volume Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is published by Oxford University Press
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Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE)
The fifth volume (SI-Z) of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE ) is published by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
