1348 - The Black Death: After almost 1/2 of the population died, people were able to request better conditions and higher wages from their landlords as fewer people were available to work. Subsequently most of these people advanced to higher ranks in society. Language standards may have increased and standard English may have became more prevalent.
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1601-1603 - Shakespeare and Hamlet: introduced more sensitive and existential discussions. May have been shocking to the public, but new language uses may have been introduced and used.
1608 - English arrives in North America: Founded in Virginia, the founder being adventurer John Smith. The spread of the English language,
1611 - King James' bible introduces new phrases: 'salt of the earth' etc. Around 250 phrases are now a part of the English language.
1613 - First English Dictionary: 3000 words. The preface quoted the poor standard of English at the time. The public may have accepted that is it now unacceptable to speak in a way not supported in the dictionary.
1616 - Opening of The Globe theater in London - Possible advances in spoken language use.
1674 - Criminal slang: The Canting Academy by Richard Head records the customs, phrases and songs of urban villains and scoundrels. Increase in the use of non-standard Enlish? More slang/offensive language introduced?
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1700 - John Dryden Fables: His style of composition was a template for writing in English in the 1800s.
1724 - Trade and the English language: Cargo lists from other countries such as India influenced our language greatly - Indian influences and backgrounds. Words of an Indian origin may have been introduced and altered over time.
1755 - Johnson's Dictionary: the most famous dictionary in English history, listed 40,000 words. and took 55 years to complete. The English language had grown greatly in the last 100 years. (1613 - 3000 words known).
1762 - Lowth's grammar: fulfilled the demand among a growing middle class for guidance on how to use 'polite' or 'correct' English.
1791 - Walker's correct pronunciation: The public on both sides of the Atlantic were eager for guidance on how to speak correctly. Walker illustrated how to reproduce a 'cultured' London accent. Above all, this was for Londoners with a Cockney accent which to Walker is 'a thousand times more offensive and disgusting'.
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1818 - Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: Frankenstein was a ghost story she made up to amuse her husband.
1824 - Grammar for children: Children often became bored when learning grammar, so colour and poetry was first introduced here.
1825 - Punctuation for children.
1837 - Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist: He adapted his spellings to convey a sense of natural rhythms of London speech at the time.
1847 - Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights.
1855 - Cookery for the poor, Alexis Soyer: Possibly could have heightened the language standards of the poor.
1862-1864 - Alice's adventures in Wonderland.
1864 - The Queen's English: This was one of the earliest and most influential style models. Much of the content addresses Henry Alford's personal views on the use and abuse of English.
1878 - Invention of the telephone: The book 'All about the telephone and phonograph' was also published.
1879 - The Oxford English dictionary: Created a vast and comprehensive collection of English words from 1150 onward.
1886 - The Anglo-Indian dictionary: As British control in India grew, the English language established itself and began to develop. Henry Yule and Arthur Coke Burnell used their notes on Anglo-Indian words to create the 2000 word dictionary.
1888 - Jack the Ripper: Some say that the newspapers came up with his name in order to sell more copies.
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1904 - Sherlock Holmes: Inspired by Doctor Bell of Edinburgh who could predict illnesses in patients and was said to do so by chance. Sherlock Holmes was written as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle thought science should have a part in 'chance'.
1914 - Suffragettes protest: empowerment for women.
1929 - BBC English was formed: Basis on how to pronounce uncommon words or words with varying pronunciations.
1939 - Wanted poster for Hitler: From The Daily Mirror, the 'Wanted' sign cast Hitler as a classic wild west criminal. This was to strengthen the country's resolve against him. This format has been popular in newspapers ever since.
1948 - Immigration from India: introduction of Indian influences on language.
1950s - Chinese restaurants: Chinese may have began to influence English.
1976 - 2nd December The Sex Pistols: Whilst live on TV, the presenter ridiculed the band and 'rude words' went out to the nation. There was a huge backlash from the media and the public.
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