Today’s History: Oxford Dictionary was first published in 1884, it would take 120 years to type all its words

When we are confused about a word in English, the first thing that comes to our mind is the Oxford Dictionary. Oxford dictionary has become a part of our life. This dictionary was first published on this day on February 1, 1884. Its making started from 1857 itself.

At that time the people of the Philological Society of London had considered systematically preparing a dictionary of English. It incorporated the Anglo-Saxon words prevalent from the 11th century to the 18th century. At that time it was produced in 4 volumes. More than 6,400 words were included in this.

Thousands of people contributed to the preparation of the Oxford Dictionary, but Sir James Augustus Henry Murray and Dr. William Chester Minor have been the most prominent among them. While Henry Murray was the author of the dictionary, American surgeon Dr. William Chester Minor gave the Oxford dictionary more than 10,000 words alone.

Completely completed in 1928
The dictionary was completed in 1928, 40 years after it was published. More than 4 lakh words were included in this dictionary and it was prepared in 10 volumes. Its title was A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (A NEW ENGLISH DICTIONARY ON HISTORICAL PRINCIPLES). Since then, words from every language have been added to the Oxford Dictionary every year.

There are 20 volumes of dictionary available
In this way this dictionary is updated every year. In 1984, an electronic version of the dictionary was considered. For this 120 people typed the words of the dictionary. 50 proof readers were kept. The online version of the dictionary is active since 2000.

There are currently 20 volumes of the Oxford Dictionary. It contains 60 million (6 crore) words. Its weight is more than 62 kg. It is said that if you type all the words included in the dictionary, it can take more than 120 years.

Important events of February 1 in India and the world are as follows:

1785: Warren Hastings attends council meeting for the last time. Resigned from the post of Governor General of Bengal after the meeting.

1827: The Bengal Club of Calcutta was established.

1835: The East India Company took the Darjeeling area on lease from Sikkim.

1855: The East India Railway was officially inaugurated.

1881: St. Stephen’s, Delhi’s most prestigious and oldest college, is established.

1884: Postal Insurance Scheme was started.

1949: The Press Trust of India acquired the Associated Press of India.

2003: America’s spacecraft crashes while returning to Earth from Colombia. Seven astronauts including India’s Kalpana Chawla were killed in the accident.

2004: More than 250 people died and 244 were injured due to stampede during Haj pilgrimage.

2009: Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza won the mixed doubles title for the first time in the Australian Open tennis tournament.