Events that defined English

Events that created and changed English

                                                                                     ENGLAND

• Roman colonisation of British Isles : Caused Christianity and Latin to enter England
• Settlement of Celts in British Isles : Caused the creation of a Celtic dialect
• The development of Friesian in Friesland : This was an area in modern day Netherlands and Friesian is the mother of Germanic language
• The settlement of Angles and Saxons in England : The Saxons introduce Friesian in England
• Invasion by Saxons : Saxons come to power and a blend of Friesian and latin forms Old English and becomes prevalent in England 
• Roman missionaries enter England : Latin gets reinforce
• Publishing of Beowulf : The first book in the world which employs English as its medium (Old English)
• Viking attack : Most of England falls to the Viking forces and a new language evolves out of O.Eng and the scandinavian language
• Establishment of the British Saxon empire by Alfred the Great of Wessex : Alfred the Great defends the kingdom and O.Eng gets protected from foreign hands 
• Norman Conquest : William the Conqueror invades England defeating Harold Tostig and establishes the Norman empire. Old French penetrates into England and  causes the Endangerment  of English, Latin and French get absorbed into clergy too and this also results in the gap between the commons and the nobles
• King John loses Normandy to Philip II of France  : The link between England and French starts to lessen and  Common people revive their language but later as commoners take roles like baby-sitters for he nobles, they learn O. Eng and an enriched language containing traits of both O.Eng and French develops 
• Black Death : O.English is brought back into great usage as many of the educated lose their lives in the disease
• Parliament opens in West minister : The chancellor speaks in English
• Coronation of Henry of Grosmot : English after many years since Norman rule becomes official and England becomes the country of the English Language 
• Geoffrey Chaucer writes Canterbury Tales : First book in English language, making the author the 'Father of English literature'. This is a book about many tales of the middle ages
• John Wycliffe : Though English came to the usage by in many places, the holiest book of the west, the Bible remained in Latin. John Wycliffe is considered to be the first true translator of it to English
• Dream-Vision Piers Plowman : A book by William Langland adds a lot of Vocabulary to Old English
• Battle of Agincourt : In a battle between England and France, Henry V uses English officially to prove the English Nationalism through which English is supported
• Chancery of England : With acceptance of English as the major language of England, many dialects as previously were start to gain popularity, for uniformity the Chancery of England makes a set of words as official making the language more disciplined
• Reformation in Europe : The English start expressing Religious reforms
• Printing : Gutenburg's printing system is improved and supported in England by William Caxton. He sells Thomas Malory's 'King Arthur' books, 'Canterbury Tales', and Wycliffe's Bible
• Tyndale's Bible : The most sought Bible in English history is made by William Tyndale, and this causes controversy. Thomas More who wishes Henry VIII to adhere to the Latin bible and catholic church is executed
• Sir John Cheke : Cheke tries to revive O.Eng
• Philip Sidney : Uses romantic poetry and introduces many new words
• Queen Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury : Speaks in English and stirs nationalism in England causing the English to love their language
• Table Alphabeticall : The first dictionary in English (Table Alphabeticall) is written by Robert Cawdrey, with many words introduced
• William Shakespeare : Makes English more approaches and adds a great load of literature and vocabulary 

            

AMERICA

• Puritan Movement : English Protestants develop a fear and go in search of New lands
• Plymouth rock and the Mayflower crew : Pilgrim fathers (Puritans) enter North America
• Thirteen Colonies : Spread over the East Coast and make it their  home and start civilising the Natives and unlike varying accents in England develop a better English
• New England Primer : The first School textbook for both the English and the natives is published and teaches English to all 
• American Spelling Book : The blue English book teaches pronunciation and creates varied spellings and as a result, American English is born
• American Revolutionary war : The American English win independence from Britain
• Other European colonies : Danish, Dutch; French, Spanish, Portuguese are fought to win colonies in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida and elsewhere
• Louisiana Purchase : Louisiana is purchased by the Americans under Thomas Jefferson from French
• Exploration under Lewis and Clark : Westward extension of USA is done from St.Louis. This develops new accents of English because of contact with Spanish
• California Gold rush : settlement of california, developing californian accent
• Cowboy style : Joseph McCoy introduces new transport system of cattle hence starting an occupation of Cowboys and language, accent, and vocabulary including words like 'rodeo'
• Levi Strauss and co. : a new culture evolves
• Mark Twain literature : He highlighted the American language spoken on the banks of Missouri-Mississippi, enriching English literature
• Slave trade : Under colonialism, slaves are brought from Africa and West Indies and in the cabins in USA, new vocabulary is introduced and a new style of English is developed 
• Civil War : The language developed by the former slaves experiences a confluence with the language of the whites