The Oxford English Dictionary debuted on this date in 1884. It soon became a go-to glossary the world over, and expanding its enormity exponentially, so much so that in 1900 the wires ran this rundown of impressive OED-related statistics, i.e.: column lengths vis-à-vis equivalent geographical distance, etc.

And the OED continues to grow, adding new words every year. This year’s freshman lexemes include “ransomware,” “me time,” and “dickish,” which could be synonym for another new entry, “mansplaining.” HBD, OED!