Modern English
Modern English (sometimes New English or NE as opposed to Middle English and Old English) is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, which began in the late 14th century and was completed in roughly 1550.
English-language spelling reform
The second period started in the 19th century and appears to coincide with the development of phonetics as a science. In 1806, Noah Webster published his first dictionary, . It included an essay on the oddities of modern orthography and his proposals for reform. Many of the spellings he used, such as "color" and "center", would become hallmarks of American English. In 1807, Webster began compiling an expanded dictionary. It was published in 1828 as "An American Dictionary of the English Language". Although it drew some protest, the reformed spellings were gradually adopted throughout the United States.