Noah Webster, America’s first lexicographer, was born on October 16, 1758. We remember Webster as the author of the first American dictionary, but he was also the first authority to advocate American English. His American Spelling Book, published in 1783 (later known as Webster’s Elementary Spelling Book), was the first to Americanize the spelling of English words such as colour and labour by dropping the u. He also espoused American pronunciation and usage. In a very real sense, Webster gave us the language that Americans think of as English. An estimated 60 million copies of Webster’s speller were sold during its first hundred years in print. In 1828, Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language was published, with 12,000 more words and about 40,000 more definitions than any previous English dictionary.
Every Year
1750s
1790s
1810s
1820s
- 1820: CAPE BRETON ISLAND WAS RE-ANNEXED TO NOVA SCOTIA
- 1829: THE TREMONT HOUSE IN BOSTON, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE FIRST MODERN FIRST-CLASS HOTEL IN THE US, OPENS
1840s
1850s
- BORN 1854: OSCAR WILDE (AUTHOR)
- 1859: JOHN BROWN, U.S. ABOLITIONIST, LED AN UNSUCCESSFUL RAID ON GOVERNMENT ARSENAL AT HARPER’S FERRY, IN WHAT IS NOW WEST VIRGINIA
1860s
1870s
- BORN 1870: WALLACE RUPERT TURNBULL (CANADIAN AERONAUTICAL ENGINEER)
- 1875: FIRST QUEBEC VS. ONTARIO FOOTBALL GAME
1880s
1910s
1920s
1940s
1950s
- 1955: SUN-TIMES PUBLISHED FIRST ANN LANDERS COLUMN BY EPPIE LEDERER
- BORN 1958: TIM ROBBINS (ACTOR & DIRECTOR)
1960s
1970s
- DIED 1973: GENE KRUPA (MUSICIAN)
- 1973: HENRY KISSINGER AND LE DUC THO WERE AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
- BORN 1975: KELLIE MARTIN (ACTRESS)
- BORN 1977: JOHN MAYER (MUSICIAN)
- 1978: THE ROMAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE OF CARDINALS ELECTED FIRST NON-ITALIAN POPE IN 455 YEARS, CARDINAL KAROL WOJTYLA OF POLAND, WHO TOOK THE NAME JOHN PAUL II
1990s
2000s
2010s
- DIED 2010: BARBARA BILLINGSLEY (ACTRESS)
- DIED 2011: DAN WHELDON (RACE CAR DRIVER)
- 2012: A MAGNITUDE-4.0 EARTHQUAKE STRUCK ABOUT 3 MILES WEST OF HOLLIS CENTER, MAINE AND WAS FELT THROUGHOUT NEW ENGLAND
- DIED 2013: ED LAUTER (ACTOR)
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