In which year was the first English dictionary published? [br] [originaltext]

The first English dictionary, called an Alphabetical Table of Hard Words, was published in 1604. The dictionary actually contained only about 3,000 difficult words, each followed by a one word definition. The author, Robert Cawdrey, made no attempt to include everyday words in his dictionary. No one, he reasoned, would ever have to look up a word in a dictionary if he already knew the meaning of the word. During the 1600s more dictionaries were published. Each followed Cawdrey’s lead and presented a few thousand hard words. Around 1700 one dictionary maker, John Kersey, did define easy words as well as hard ones. But until the 1750s all dictionaries were rather simple and not very valuable.
   A man named Dr. Samuel Johnson changed all this. In 1755 Dr. Johnson produced the first modem dictionary. He includes in his dictionary all important words, both easy and hard, and he gave good meanings. By the end of the 1700s most dictionary makers had followed Johnson’s lead.
   The 1800s saw the greatest improvement in the quality of dictionaries. In England scholars planned and prepared the Oxford English Dictionary, a twenty-volume work. One of the most popular features of the Oxford English Dictionary is its word histories. It traces the history of each word from its earliest recorded use up to the time of the printing of the dictionary.