--- title: Google Doodle: Lexicographer Samuel Johnson's 308th Birthday description: When Samuel Johnson compiled the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language in 1755, it stood 18 inches tall. canonical: https://time.com/4945974/google-doodle-samuel-johnson-dictionary/ author: Rachel Lewis article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-18T12:18:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:28:08.262Z article:section: History og:title: Today's Google Doodle Commemorates Dictionary Creator Samuel Johnson og:description: He made the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language og:url: https://time.com/4945974/google-doodle-samuel-johnson-dictionary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d30658069c2c77/6988de2e096a94c56969fa2f/google-doodle-samuel-johnson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: google-doodle-samuel-johnson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Today's Google Doodle Commemorates Dictionary Creator Samuel Johnson twitter:description: He made the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d30658069c2c77/6988de2e096a94c56969fa2f/google-doodle-samuel-johnson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Today's Google Doodle Commemorates Dictionary Creator Samuel Johnson by [Rachel Lewis](https://time.com/author/rachel-lewis/) ## Rachel Lewis Sep 18, 2017 12:18 PM UTC  Doodle by Sophie Diao — Google by [Rachel Lewis](https://time.com/author/rachel-lewis/) ## Rachel Lewis Sep 18, 2017 12:18 PM UTC When [Samuel Johnson](http://time.com/4227162/english-spelling-reform/) compiled the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language in 1755, it stood 18 inches tall. _A Dictionary of the English Language_ took nine years to complete and held its position as the language’s premier dictionary for 150 years, until the _Oxford English Dictionary_ was produced. [Google is on Monday](https://www.google.com/doodles/samuel-johnsons-308th-birthday) celebrating the 308th birthday of Johnson, who was not the first man to compile and publish a list of English words, but was the first to explain the use of those words. He completed the work single-handedly, only using assistance to help him copy out illustrative quotes that he found in other texts, and also authored critical editions of Shakespeare and numerous poems. Google Doodle celebrates Johnson’s achievements with an illustration of him and his book by Sophie Diao, alongside the definition of lexicographer: a writer of dictionaries. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4945974/google-doodle-samuel-johnson-dictionary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4945974/google-doodle-samuel-johnson-dictionary/"},"headline":"Today's Google Doodle Commemorates Dictionary Creator Samuel Johnson","datePublished":"2017-09-18T12:18:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:28:08.262Z","description":"He made the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language","url":"https://time.com/4945974/google-doodle-samuel-johnson-dictionary/","keywords":["Google Doodle","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d30658069c2c77/6988de2e096a94c56969fa2f/google-doodle-samuel-johnson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel Lewis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rachel-lewis/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39d30658069c2c77/6988de2e096a94c56969fa2f/google-doodle-samuel-johnson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"google-doodle-samuel-johnson","caption":"","creditText":"Doodle by Sophie Diao — Google","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4945974/google-doodle-samuel-johnson-dictionary/","name":"Today's Google Doodle Commemorates Dictionary Creator Samuel Johnson"}}]}] ```