The Webster dictionary is well known. Nobody is above looking up a word or definition on occasion. It's necessary.

For many families a Webster dictionary and a good set of encyclopedias were must haves. It would help their children in their school work. Now people can access it online. It's no different than the printed copy. That's one example of the Internet improving things.

Webster dictionary has become a generic name. Many English dictionaries bear the name. Noah Webster began what today is the Merriam-Webster dictionary. But most dictionaries now bear the name.

Noah Webster began as a teacher publishing classroom aids. His first dictionary came in 1806. Many of his methods became standard in the world of dictionaries. He decided that words should be spelled in the American way, rather than British. Color, for instance, instead of colour. The dictionary included words from fields other than literature. Even after publishing it Webster took 20 more years to expand it.

His next dictionary wasn't published until Noah was 70. With two volumes and 70,000 entries it was quite a work. The Webster dictionary was truly born. In 1840 Noah's son helped release a revised edition.

The modern Webster dictionary launched after Noah died. The family sold off the rights to Webster's works and name to George and Charles Merriam. Working with Webster's son they revised the book even more. On September 24, 1847 the new revised edition was released. Then in 1859 a new addition followed. This version had illustrations.

In 1860 the Miriam company took another step forward in the development of the Webster dictionary. Another revision began under the eyes of a Yale professor. That one came out in 1864. It featured 114,000 entries. It was a complete facelift to Noah's first work. It was called unabridged.

In 1909 bigger changes came. This was the international version. It featured twice as many drawings and over 400,000 entries. It featured a divided page. The bottom portion of the page was reserved for somewhat dead words that still needed to be covered.

Today we use a Kleenex and read the Webster dictionary. Noah Webster would smile.