Mugglestone - The Oxford History of English

1475

Printing of The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye by William Caxton in

Bruges—the first book to be printed in English.

1476

William Caxton sets up his printing press in Westminster and pub-

lishes the first printed books in England.

1485

Henry VII becomes the first Tudor King after Richard III is killed at

the Battle of Bosworth.

1489

French no longer used as the language of Parliament.

1490

Caxton’s Eneydos published (with prologue remarking on variability of

English).

1491

Death of Caxton; succeeded by Wynkyn de Worde, who moves his

printing press to Fleet Street.

1492

Christopher Columbus arrives in West Indies.

1497

John Cabot reaches Newfoundland, providing the first English contact

with Canada.

1525–6

Publication of William Tyndale’s New Testament in English.

1534

English Reformation (Henry VIII breaks with the Catholic Church).

1535

Publication of Miles Coverdale’s Bible (the first complete Bible to be

printed in English).

1536

First act of union between England and Wales.

1542

Andrew Boorde, Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, illustrates

regional dialects.

1549

Book of Common Prayer.

1562

John Hawkins starts British slave trade.

1564

Birth of Shakespeare.

1565

Lawrence Nowell, Vocabularium Saxiconum, first Old English glossary;

included northern English words.

1567

Thomas Harman, A Caveat or Warening for Common Cursetors, first

glossary of the ‘canting language’ or dialect of the underworld.

1577(–80)

Francis Drake circumnavigates the world.

1585

Thomas Herriot, a scientist, visits Roanoke in America to

gather information on the flora, fauna, resources, people, and

languages.

chronology 419

1586

Publication of William Bullokar’s Pamphlet for Grammar, the first

grammar of English.

1600

Founding of the East India Company.

1600(–)

English begins to be used in records of legal proceedings.

1603

Union of the Crowns; James VI of Scotland succeeds to the English

throne, as James I, after death of Elizabeth I.

1604

Robert Cawdrey, A Table Alphabeticall, the first English–English dic-

tionary, translates ‘hard words’ and inkhorn terms into ‘common’

English.

1607

Jamestown in Chesapeake Bay founded in North America—the first

successful British colony.

1611

The Authorized Version of the English Bible (the ‘King James’ Bible),

attempts to resolve questions about Englishing the Word of God.

1616

Death of Shakespeare.

1619

Alexander Gil, Logonomia Anglica, first vernacular grammar to treat

English dialects systematically.

1623

Publication of the First Folio edition of Sheakespeare’s plays.

1653

Publication of John Wallis’s Grammatica linguae Anglicanae.

1655

Britain ousts the Spanish from Jamaica and extends its influence and

language into the Caribbean and to West Africa.

1660

1 Restoration of the monarchy.

2 Royal Society of London founded, in part, as the first English

language academy.

1670

Hudson’s Bay Company formed.

1710

Copyright Act.

1711

Publication of Greenwood’s Essay towards a practical English Gram-

mar.

1712

Publication (anonymously) of A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and

Ascertaining the English Tongue; in a Letter by Jonathan Swift, which

proposes the foundation of an Academy to regulate English usage.

1713

Having defeated the French, the British exile French-speakers from

Atlantic Canada. A later attempt by France to maintain colonies in

present-day Illinois failed, and their defeat at Battle of Quebec in 1759

ensures dominance by English speakers in the west.

1714

Death of Queen Anne: all chances of setting up an English Academy lost.

1715

Elisabeth Elstob published the first grammar of Old English.

c1745

Publication of Ann Fisher’s New Grammar (Newcastle upon Tyne), the

first grammar to be published by a woman.

1747

Samuel Johnson published the Plan for his Dictionary.

1752

Britain (and its colonies) move from the Julian to the Gregorian

calendar, losing 11 days between 2 and 14 September.

1755

Publication of Samuel Johnson’s two-volume Dictionary of the English

Language.

1757

In India, the British military victory at Plassy institutes English dom-

inance in South Asia that will last until 1947. In the hands of expatriate

and native soldiers and bureaucrats, English becomes the language of

government.

1762

Publication of Robert Lowth’s Short Introduction to English Grammar.

1770

Botany Bay, Australia, discovered by James Cook.

1775

War of American Independence begins.

1776

Declaration of American Independence.

1780

Publication of Thomas Sheridan’s General Dictionary of the English

Language. One main object of which, is, to establish a plain and per-

manent standard of pronunciation.

1783

US Declaration of Independence formally recognized by the British.

1783

Noah Webster’s American Spelling Book (the ‘Blue-backed Speller’)

published.

1787

Abolitionists in Britain establish Sierra Leone in West Africa and settle

2000 freed slaves there. They employ English in governing themselves

and the indigenous peoples.

1788

Establishment of a penal colony near present-day Sydney begins to

form the distinctive English of Australia.

1789

Publication of Noah Webster’s Dissertations on the English Language,

which advocated the institution of a national American standard of

usage.

1845–48

The annexation of Texas and the defeat of the Mexican army extends

the USA westward to California. Vast numbers of migrants to the west,

especially after the gold rush of 1848, overwhelm the institutions of

Spanish culture.

1850

Public Libraries Act.

1854–6

Crimean War.

1858

Proposal for A New English Dictionary (later known as The Oxford

English Dictionary) made by the London Philological Society.

1866

Atlantic Cable completed, linking Valencia, Ireland and Trinity Bay,

Newfoundland by submarine cable.

1867

1 Second Reform Bill (extending franchise to all those who could

demonstrate ownership of property worth £7).

2 Canada given self-government.

1869

Alexander Ellis publishes the first volume of his On Early English

Pronunciation in which he defined ‘received pronunciation’ for the

first time.

1870

In England and Wales, Elementary Education Act passed, providing

compulsory elementary education for all children.

1872

Education in Scotland made compulsory until the age of 14.

1873

Founding of the English Dialect Society.

1876

Introduction of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.

1877

Invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison.

1881

Education in England and Wales becomes compulsory until the age

of 10.

1884

First fascicle of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (later

OED) published, covering the words A-Ant.

1888

The British East Africa Company is established to oversee the devel-

opment of British interests in Kenya, Zanzibar, and Uganda.

1889

Publication of fifth volume of A. J. Ellis’s On Early English Pronunci-

ation: The Existing Phonology of English Dialects.

1892

Publication of Joseph Wright’s Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill.

1896

The English Dialect Society disbanded.

1897

Founding of the first regional dialect organization, The Yorkshire

Dialect Society.

1898(–1905)

1 The Spanish–American War extends US

dominance from the

continent of North America and into Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

2 In England, publication of The English Dialect Dictionary and

English Dialect Grammar, edited by Joseph Wright.

1899(–1902)

1 The South African War (Boer War) concludes with the British in

control of present-day South Africa.

2 First magnetic sound recordings.

1901

1 Guglielmo Marconi received the first

transatlantic radio

signals, sent between Poldhu, Cornwall and Signal Hill in New-

foundland.

2 Australia is transformed from a colony

to a commonwealth.

Among the first laws passed was the Immigration Restriction Act

which required all prospective immigrants ‘to write out at dictation

and sign in the presence of the [custom’s] officer a passage of fifty

words in length in a European language directed by the officer.’ This

language incorporated the ‘dictation test’ used in Natal in 1897 to

exclude most Indians from South Africa.

3 Death of Queen Victoria.

1906

First public radio broadcast.

1907

New Zealand becomes a dominion of the British Empire.

1910

The Union of South Africa becomes a dominion of the British Empire.

1914(–18)

The First World War (UK), World War I (US).

1918

The Englishman Sir Evelyn Wrench and the American Alexander

Smith Cochran found the English-Speaking Union, to encourage

partnership between the UK, its dominions, and the USA. [There is

currently an English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth (HQ:

London) and of the United States (HQ: New York).]

1919

The German colony of Tanganyika in East Africa is ceded to Britain,

and Kamerun in West Central Africa is divided between France (Cam-

eroun) and Britain (Cameroon).

1920

Kenya becomes a British colony.

1921

Ireland achieves Home Rule and is separated from Great Britain.

Gaelic is made an ‘official’ language in addition to English.

1922

Foundation of British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

1925

The Afrikaans language gains official status alongside English in South

Africa.

1928

Completion of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

1931

The British Commonwealth is formed, and South Africa becomes a

dominion of the British Empire.

1934

The British Council is founded, with its headquarters in London, as a

vehicle for British cultural diplomacy and teaching English as a foreign

or second language.

1935

The Philippines becomes a self-governing Commonwealth in associ-

ation with the USA.

1936

The Republic of Ireland severs all constitutional links with Great

Britain.

1937

In Wales, a new constitution for the festival the National Eisteddfod

makes Welsh its official language.

1939–45

The Second World War (UK), World War II (US).

1945

Signing of the United Nations Charter and the decision to make the

headquarters of the UN in the USA gives English an unprecedented

importance as a language of diplomacy.

1946

1 The Philippines gains its independence from the USA.

2 Transjordan gains its independence from the UK as Jordan.

1947

1 India is partitioned into Pakistan and India and is freed from

British control. The constitution provides that English remain the

language of national government for only fifteen years. The approach

of that date results in riots led by those fearing the dominance of Hindi

and the loss of power for their own language communities. English

remains as the most important of India’s ‘national languages’ even

though few learn it as a mother tongue.

2 New Zealand gains its independence from the UK, and joins the

Commonwealth.

1948

1 In England, the Survey of English Dialects is founded.

chronology 425

2 Burma gains its independence from the UK, and declines mem-

bership of the Commonwealth.

3 Ceylon gains its independence from the UK as Sri Lanka, and joins

the Commonwealth.

1949

1 The Linguistic Survey of Scotland founded.

2 Newfoundland becomes a province of Canada.

3 Two New Guinea territories are combined by the United Nations as

an Australian mandate, the UN Trust Territory of Papua and New

Guinea.

1952

Puerto Rico (see 1898) becomes a Commonwealth in association with

the US, with Spanish as its first and English its second language.

1953

The creation of the United States Information Agency (USIA) and its

overseas arm, the United States Information Service (USIS).

1955

About this time, the number of speakers using English as an additional

language surpassed the number who had learned it as a first language.

1957

1 The New Zealand-born lexicographer Robert W. Burchfield be-

comes the editor of a Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary

(eventually published in four volumes 1972–86).

2 The Gold Coast (as Ghana) and Malaya gain their independence

from the UK.

1960

Nigeria becomes independent from the British and Somalia from the

British and Italians.

1961

1 South Africa becomes a republic, leaves the Commonwealth, and

adopts Afrikaans and English as its official languages.

2 The British colony of Cameroon divides, part joining Nigeria, part

joining the ex-French colony of Cameroun, to become the Republic of

Cameroon, with French and English as its official languages.

3 Sierra Leone, Kuwait, and Cyprus gain their independence from

the UK.

4 In England, 1961–72, publication of the Basic Material of the

Survey of English Dialects.

1962

1 Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda gain their independ-

ence from the UK.

2 Caribbean English becomes the vehicle for popular culture, espe-

cially calypso, Rastafarianism, and reggae.

1963

1 Nigeria becomes independent as part of the wave of ‘decolonizing’

that took place throughout the former British colonies. West African

Pidgin English emerges as a major and widely spoken regional language.

2 Kenya gains its independence from the UK.

3 Malaya unites with the newly independent colony of Borneo to

become Malaysia.

4 In Wales, the first public protests by the Cyndeithas yr Iaith

Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) take place, seeking a fuller

use of Welsh in the Principality.

1964

1 Malta gains its independence from the UK.

2 Tanganyika and Zanzibar (as Tanzania), Nyasaland (as Malawi), and

Northern Rhodesia (as Zambia) gain their independence from the UK.

1965

Gambia, the Maldives, and Singapore gain their independence from

the UK.

1966

Barbados, Basutoland (as Lesotho), Bechuanaland (as Botswana), and

British Guiana (as Guyana) gain their independence from the UK.

1967

1 In the UK, the Welsh Language Act gives the Welsh language equal

validity with English in Wales, and the Principality is no longer

deemed to be part of England.

2 Aden gains its independence from the UK as South Yemen.

1968

1 The Survey of Anglo-Welsh Dialects is founded.

2 Swaziland, Mauritius, and Nauru gain their independence from

the UK.

1969

English and French become the official languages of Canada.

1970

Fiji and Tonga gain their independence from the UK.

1971

Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States (as the United Arab Emirates)

gain their independence from the UK.

1972

1 Martin Cooper makes the first public call on a personal, portable

cell phone.

chronology 427

1973

The Bahamas gain their independence from the UK.

1974

1 The Cyngor Yr Iaith Gymraeg/Council for the Welsh Language is

set up to advise the Secretary of State for Wales on matters concerning

the Welsh language.

2 Grenada gains its independence from the UK.

1975

Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.

1976

The Seychelles gains its independence from the UK.

1977

In Quebec, Loi/Bill 101 is passed, making French the sole official

language of the province and banning public signs in other

languages.

1978

1 In England, publication of The Linguistic Atlas of England.

2 Dominica, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu gain their independ-

ence from the UK.

1979

St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Gilbert and Ellice

Islands (as Kiribati) gain their independence from the UK.

1980

The UK government averts a fast to the death by Gwynfor Evans,

leader of Plaid Cymru (the Welsh National Party), by honouring

election pledges to provide a fourth television channel broadcasting

in both Welsh and English.

1981

Antigua (as Antigua and Barbuda) and British Honduras (as Belize)

gain their independence from the UK.

1982

Canada’s constitution, until then kept in London, is ‘patriated’ to

Ottawa.

1983

St Kitts and Nevis gains its independence from the UK.

1984

1 Brunei gains its independence from the UK.

2 David Rosewarne identifies ‘Estuary English’.

1990

South West Africa gains its independence from South Africa as

Namibia.

1991

1 Tim Berners-Lee launches the World Wide Web.

2 The Marshall Islands and Micronesia gain their independence

from the USA.

1994

Text messaging introduced.