today’s birthday: Noah Webster (1758)

Noah Webster (1758)

Webster was an American lexicographer. After serving in the American Revolution, he published The Elementary Spelling Book, or “Blue-Backed Speller,” which helped standardize American spelling and sold some 100 million copies. In 1807, he began work on his landmark American Dictionary of the English Language, which included definitions of 70,000 words—of which 12,000 had never appeared in a dictionary before. How many languages did he learn while compiling the dictionary? More… Discuss

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