After reaching America, Columbus introduced Europe to new foodstuffs such as chilli and chocolate - and the words that described them. Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first "jubilee" in 1300, and Francis Bacon published the first "essay" in 1597. The Normans gave us the "feudal system" and "curfews", while the flourishing of Dutch art in the 17th century introduced "easels", "etchings" and "landscapes". Thus, throughout history, events great and small have left their mark on the way we speak. Starting from 1066 and working through to the present-day boom in techno-speak, this book links hundreds of words with the historical upheavals and minor social changes which gave them life.