Chronology of the history of English

Date Historical events Language

55 & 54 BC Julius Caesar lands Celtic

43 Roman conquest begins Celtic & Latin

End of 3rd C Attacks by Germanic tribes Romanised Celtic & Germanic

383-410 Withdrawal of Roman troops

449 Germanic invasions Scattered Germanic settlements

c. 547 Anglian kingdom north of Humber

597 Augustine starts christianisation in Kent Largely Germanic

634 Irish monks christianize Northumbria

655 Christianisation of Mercia completed

664 Synod of Whitby

c. 725 Beowulf Anglo-Saxon

787 First wave of Danish invasions

865 Second wave of Danish invasions

886 Sovereignty of Alfred the Great

964 Monastic reform Standardisation of Old English

973 Edgar crowned king of England

991 Third wave of Danish invasions

1066 Norman conquest Norman French official language

1204 Normandy lost

1258 Royal proclamation in English English official language

1348-1350 The Black Death

1362 Parliament opened in English

1382 Peasants' Revolt

1476 Caxton's printing press in Westminster

1531 Henry VIIIth breaks with Rome Bible translations

1588 Bullokar's Pamphlet for Grammar Standardisation

1607 English brought to America (Virginia) American English

1639-86 English settlements in India English as a trading language

1664 Royal Society: committee Standardisation

1759 Quebec gained

1761 India a colony

1805 Battle of Trafalgar

1816 First inexpensive newspaper Mass media

1858 Beginning of work on NED (later OED)

19th C Technical progress scientific language

1899-1901 Boer war English in S. Africa

1914-18 World War I English as language of diplomacy

1939-45 World War II Spread of American English