Answer:
Well, this would be a very touch and go answer that will give a simple chronology to the evolution of the English language.
Long before, Germanic tribes landed on England which were the Angles (on which England and English derive) and the Saxons. There were also Jutes and the Vikings in the future. This led about to the creation of the Anglo-Saxon language or Old English as some may call it. Beowulf was written in this language and you can actually see the Anglo-Saxon language online if it so interests you.
The vikings began to invade England which led to the entry of numerous Scandinavian vocabulary and if I was not mistaken, they also led about a simplification of the Anglo-Saxon language to fit the simpler Old Norse language. Notably, England was ruled by three Dane kings from 1016 to 1042.
Of course, Latin was already present as England used to be in the Roman Empire as Britannia (from which Britain derives). However, the Conquest of 1066 by William of Normandy brought about the influence of the French language on the Anglo-Saxon language. Old English began to be a language of the peasants while French became the language of the courts and the aristocrats. Not long, Anglo-Norman was created which was Anglo-Saxon but with more Norman French words in it.
It became Middle English whereby the language became to be notably simplified, with the case system found in Old English nearly removed altogether. Simply put, Middle English looks more like Modern English but with weird spellings in cases like where some i are written with a y instead. Works of Geoffrey Chaucer were written during this time.
The Great Vowel Shift (GVS) began to occur in 1350 whereby the sounds of vowels began to change. Thus, it led to the weird phonology with have concerning English vowels.
In 1580, English colonialism began with the colonisation of Newfoundland. During the late Elizabethan Era and early Jacobite era, Early Modern English came about and it can be seen from the works of Shakespeare. Notably, the differentiation between thou-thee-you and thy-thine-your was still present along with the rather archaic conjugation of the verbs. Cases have mostly simplified in common case and possessive case marked by an apostrophe and s (‘s).
The spread of English began with the rise of colonialism and the biggest example would be the Thirteen Colonies which would later become the first Thirteen States of the United States. The US will become important in this chronology later.
While Britain lost the United States, they still colonised more and more, ranging from Canada to New Zealand and ultimately, they held 23% of the Earth’s land area and 21% of the world population in 1921 were living in a British colony. And don’t forget, this does not include the United States. Regardless, this led to English being adopted in the colonies which is observable till today, with almost all British colonies having English as an official language.
We must also not forget the US, who did their own share of colonialism as seen through the American-Spanish war, where they gained control of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam and the Philippines. And in fact, the Philippines will later become the 5th largest English-speaking country, that was not colonised by the British.
Fast forward after the end of World War 2, Britain was in shambles, but the US was the largest economy, benefitting from the war industry and remaining largely intact due to their geographical location outside of both Asia and Europe. The US once held half of the world’s GDP in 1947. This enabled them to bankroll the Bretton Woods System which includes both the IMF and World Bank, and the global economy development in the 50s to 70s were mostly dictated by the US (as they held the most power within the World Bank). Naturally, we see the business industry adopt English naturally as it became the more viable language for commerce, with the US becoming a business hub through the likes of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
We must also not forget that Hollywood began to grow after the war, with films being shown around the world which began to spread American English.
All in all, British colonialism and American dominance after World War Two led about to English becoming a global lingua franca.
