History of the English Language Timeline By Michael McArthur 400 Anglo-Saxon settlement begins 597 St. Augustine arrives in England Period: 700 to 750 Beowulf written 731 Bede completes Ecclesiastical 1066 Norman Invasion 1154 Henry II becomes King of England 1347 Black Death begins in Europe Period: 1387 to 1400 Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales 1450 Invention of the printing press 1492 Discovery of the Americas 1603 Elizabeth I dies; James I becomes King 1623 Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio 1666 Great Fire of London 1776 American Revolution begins Period: 1939 to 1945 World War II
