NOAH WEBSTER’S BIRTHDAY

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

• NATIONAL BOSS DAY
• WORLD FOOD DAY

1750s

• 1758: NOAH WEBSTER’S BIRTHDAY
• BORN 1758: NOAH WEBSTER (WRITER)

1790s

• DIED 1793: MARIE ANTOINETTE (QUEEN OF FRANCE)

1810s

• BORN 1815: FRANCIS LUBBOCK (TEXAS GOVERNOR)

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

• 1846: THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATION OF ETHER TOOK PLACE AT THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

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

• 1869: CARDIFF GIANT “DISCOVERED” IN CARDIFF, NEW YORK (NEAR SYRACUSE)

1870s

• BORN 1870: WALLACE RUPERT TURNBULL (CANADIAN AERONAUTICAL ENGINEER)
• 1875: FIRST QUEBEC VS. ONTARIO FOOTBALL GAME

1880s

• BORN 1888: EUGENE O’NEILL (PLAYWRIGHT)

1910s

• 1916: MARGARET SANGER AND OTHERS OPEN THE FIRST BIRTH CONTROL CLINIC, IN BROOKLYN, NY

1920s

• BORN 1925: ANGELA LANSBURY (ACTRESS)

1940s

• BORN 1946: SUZANNE SOMERS (ACTRESS)

1950s

• 1955: SUN-TIMES PUBLISHED FIRST ANN LANDERS COLUMN BY EPPIE LEDERER
• BORN 1958: TIM ROBBINS (ACTOR & DIRECTOR)

1960s

• 1968: TWO AMERICAN BLACK ATHLETES AT OLYMPIC GAMES, TOMMIE SMITH AND JOHN CARLOS, DEMONSTRATE FOR BLACK POWER WHILE RECEIVING THEIR MEDALS. THEY ARE SUSPENDED BY THE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE.

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

• 1999: 7.1 HECTOR MINE EARTHQUAKE, MOJAVE DESERT, CALIFORNIA

2000s

• DIED 2007: DEBORAH KERR (ACTRESS)

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)

COURTESY www.almanac.com