A Chronology of the English Language
Literature

A Chronology of the English Language


449 Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain begins
450-480 Earliest Old English inscriptions date from this period
597 St. Augustine arrives in Britain. Beginning of Christian conversion
731 The Venerable Bede publishes The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in Latin
792 Viking raids and settlements begin
871 Alfred becomes king of Wessex. He has Latin works translated into English and begins practice of English prose. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is begun
911 Charles II of France grants Normandy to the Viking chief Hrolf the Ganger. The beginning of Norman French
c. 1000 The oldest surviving manuscript of Beowulf dates from this period
1066 The Norman conquest
c. 1150 The oldest surviving manuscripts of Middle English date from this period
1171 Henry II conquers Ireland
1204 King John loses the province of Normandy to France
1348 English replaces Latin as the medium of instruction in schools, other than Oxford and Cambridge which retain Latin
1362 The Statute of Pleading replaces French with English as the language of law. Records continue to be kept in Latin. English is used in Parliament for the first time
1384 Wyclif publishes his English translation of the Bible
c. 1388 Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales
1476 William Caxton establishes the first English printing press
1492 Columbus discovers the New World
1549 First version of The Book of Common Prayer
1604 Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, Table Alphabeticall
1607 Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, established
1611 The Authorized, or King James Version, of the Bible is published
1702 Publication of the first daily, English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, in London
1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his dictionary
1770 Cook discovers Australia
1928 The Oxford English Dictionary is published




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Literature








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