...defines clairvoyance as "the hypothesized ability to perceive things that are not in sight." But was it necessary for Noah Webster, the noted 19th century prig who foresaw the need for a popular dictionary, to be so skeptical? Anyone can be clairvoyant...

...the first American society for the abolition of slavery was formed in Philadelphia. In 1828, the first edition of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the English Language" was published. In 1865, President Lincoln was shot and mortally...

Noah Webster's Compendious Dictionary of the English Language was the first dictionary to feature distinct American spellings, pronunciations...