online dictionary

Here is a link to an online dictionary which you can use to find information about different words. It has references to the origin of the word - whether it comes from Old English, Middle English or even a new variety of English or a loan word. And you can even listen to the way the word is pronounced. Just type the word and choose "search".

Here is the example of a loan word borrowed from Portuguese:

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was a poet and a playwright at the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th (during the time of Elizabeth I). He is one of the greatest writers in the English language. He wrote in Modern English.

Here are a few sarcastic scenes of two of his most famous plays.

Hamlet:

Romeo and Juliet:

the history of the English language

Beowulf

This is an example of Old English.

old English and middle English

Old English - info and detailed maps here
Middle English - info and detailed maps here

history of the English language

A brief chronology of English
BC 55	Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar - LATIN	Local inhabitants speak Celtish
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 - GERMANIC DIALECTS
787-850	Viking invasion. OLD NORSE or SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES	Old English
1066	William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades and conquers England - FRENCH
c1150	Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English.	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.
1476	William Caxton establishes the first English printing press.	Early Modern English
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.
1828	Webster publishes his American English dictionary.	Late Modern English
1922	The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded.
1928	The Oxford English Dictionary is published.

more info here