This day in history - April 14
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:47 pm
1828 - The first edition of Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language was published.
This dictionary was the first to document such uniquely American words as skunk and hickory. Webster also promoted spelling reform. It is largely because of him that we spell words like color, honor, and center as we do, rather than colour, honour, and centre.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/noah.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
1865 - President Lincoln was shot. He died the next day.
1902 - J.C. Penney opened his first store. The company grew to 1400 stores by 1929 and was a fixture in small towns before shopping malls were imagined.
1912 - Titanic collided with an iceberg, causing it to sink the next morning.
1939 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published.
1956 - The first videotape recorder available for sale was demonstrated.
In half a century it went from hugely expensive studio fixture to ubiquitous home appliance to obsolete.
- Jim
This dictionary was the first to document such uniquely American words as skunk and hickory. Webster also promoted spelling reform. It is largely because of him that we spell words like color, honor, and center as we do, rather than colour, honour, and centre.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/noah.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
1865 - President Lincoln was shot. He died the next day.
1902 - J.C. Penney opened his first store. The company grew to 1400 stores by 1929 and was a fixture in small towns before shopping malls were imagined.
1912 - Titanic collided with an iceberg, causing it to sink the next morning.
1939 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published.
1956 - The first videotape recorder available for sale was demonstrated.
In half a century it went from hugely expensive studio fixture to ubiquitous home appliance to obsolete.
- Jim
