English History

Front 1

55 BC

Back 1

Roman invasion of Britain under Julius Caesar

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43 AD

Back 2

Roman invasion and occupation under Emperor Claudius. Beginning of Roman rule of Britain

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436

Back 3

Roman withdrawal from Britain complete

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449

Back 4

Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain begins

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450-480

Back 5

Earliest Old English inscriptions date from this period

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597

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St. Augustine arrives in Britain. Beginning of Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons.

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731

Back 7

The Venerable Bede publishes The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in Latin

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792

Back 8

Viking raids and settlements begin

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865

Back 9

The Danes occupy Northumbria

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871

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Alfred becomes king of Wessex. He has Latin works translated into
English and begins practice of English prose. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is begun. Education begins in English.

Front 11

911

Back 11

Charles II of France grants Normandy to the Viking chief Hrolf the
Ganger. The beginning of Norman French in England.

Front 12

1000

Back 12

The oldest surviving manuscript of Beowulf dates from this period

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1066

Back 13

The Norman conquest
(begin middle english)

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1077

Back 14

The White Tower is constructed.

Front 15

1150

Back 15

The oldest surviving manuscripts in Middle English date from this period. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ends along with written English.

Front 16

1164

Back 16

Henry of Anjou and Eleanor of Aquataine. He speaks Latin and France. Age of chivalry is born.

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1204

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King John loses the province of Normandy to France.

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1225

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Common people speaking and singing in English. English is underground and used but not taught. French and Latin language of the elite. Trade impacts borrowing. (early modern english begins)

Front 19

1295

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Edward I uses English as a banner of nationalism.

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1300

Back 20

Feudalism loses its grip and market economy leads to languages mingling. French speakers are cut off from France and classes interact. English reemerges in poetry and song.

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1337

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Hundred Years War begins and continues until 1453

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1348

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English replaces Latin as the medium of instruction in schools, other than Oxford and Cambridge which retain Latin

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1349-50

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The Black Death kills one third of the British population and promotes growth of English and empowers the English working class.

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1362

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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.

Front 25

1384

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Wyclif publishes his English translation of the Bible

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1388

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Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales

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1399

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Henry IV of Lancaster becomes king and speaks in English. He promotes literacy and poetry in English.

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1400

Back 28

English is the standard of London. The Great Vowel Shift begins

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1476

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William Caxton establishes the first English printing press

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1485

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Caxton publishes Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur

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1492

Back 31

Columbus discovers the New World

Front 32

1525

Back 32

William Tyndale translates the New Testament

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1536

Back 33

The first Act of Union unites England and Wales

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1549

Back 34

First version of The Book of Common Prayer

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1564

Back 35

Shakespeare born

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1603

Back 36

Union of the English and Scottish crowns under James the I (VI of Scotland)

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1604

Back 37

Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, Table Alphabeticall

Front 38

1607

Back 38

Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, established

Front 39

1611

Back 39

The Authorized, or King James Version, of the Bible is published

Front 40

1616

Back 40

Death of Shakespeare

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1623

Back 41

Shakespeare's First Folio is published

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1666

Back 42

The Great Fire of London. End of The Great Plague

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1702

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Publication of the first daily, English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, in London

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1755

Back 44

Samuel Johnson publishes his dictionary

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1770

Back 45

Cook discovers Australia

Front 46

1776

Back 46

Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence

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1782

Back 47

Washington defeats Cornwallis at Yorktown. Britain abandons the American colonies

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1788

Back 48

British penal colony established in Australia

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1803

Back 49

Act of Union unites Britain and Ireland

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1828

Back 50

Noah Webster publishes his dictionary

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1851

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Herman Melville publishes Moby Dick

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1922

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British Broadcasting Company founded

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1928

Back 53

The Oxford English Dictionary is published

Front 54

1940s

Back 54

The United States becomes a global power

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1980s

Back 55

The internet becomes a global network dominated by English