编者注：正如其他所有古老的语言，英语发展至今经历了漫长而又曲折的历程。来自内部的改革创新和来自外部的碰撞融合共同铸就了这门影响世界的交流符号，这份年代表即为证明。

Local inhabitants speak Celtish.

BC 55 Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar.

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

436 Roman withdrawal from Britain complete.

449 Settlement of Britain by Germanic invaders begins.

Old English

450-480 Earliest known Old English inscriptions.

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

Middle English

c1150 Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English.

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

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

c1388 Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales.

c1400 The Great Vowel Shift begins.

Early Modern English

1476 William Caxton establishes the first English printing press.

1564 Shakespeare is born.

1604 Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is published.

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

1616 Shakespeare dies.

1623 Shakespeare's First Folio is published

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

1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary.

1776 Thomas Jefferson writes the American Declaration of Independence.

1782 Britain abandons its American colonies.

Late Modern English

1828 Webster publishes his American English dictionary.

1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded.

1928 The Oxford English Dictionary is published.