Noah Webster… schoolteacher, lawyer, newspaper man. His achievements are many, including his Revolutionary War involvement, but his most famous achievement was one that people didn’t even realize was actually happening… he completely rewrote the English language. So great was his distaste for Britain that he didn’t even want to sound like them, and so, with the publication of his famous dictionary, he completely changed the sound of the language itself, giving American speech a distinctly different flavor all it’s own, and helping those of us who make a living using phrases like “term life insurance” a much easier job. Thanks, Mr. Webster!

Noah Webster is buried in the Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut.