A brief chronology of English

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A brief chronology of English

Early Modern English

1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded

1828 Webster publishes his American English dictionary

1782 Britain abandons its colonies in what is later to become the USA

1776 Thomas Jefferson writes the American Declaration of Independence

1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary

1702 The first daily English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, is published in London

1623 Shakespeare's First Folio is published

1616 Shakespeare dies

1607 The first permanent English settlement in the New World (Jamestown) is established

1604 Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is published

Middle English

1564 Shakespeare is born

William Shakespeareп

1476 William Caxton establishes the first English printing press

c1400 The Great Vowel Shift begins

c1388 Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales

1362 English replaces French as the language of law. English is used in Parliament for the first time

1348 English replaces Latin as the language of instruction in most schools

c1150 Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English

Late modern English

1928 The Oxford English Dictionary is published

Old English

1066 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades and conquers England

450-480 Earliest known Old English inscriptions

Local inhabitants speak Celtish

449 Settlement of Britain by Germanic invaders begins

436 Roman withdrawal from Britain complete

AD 43 Roman invasion and occupation. Beginning of Roman rule of Britain

55 BC Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar