The very first dictionary of English words was created by Robert Cawdry in 1604 and was entitled "Table Alphabeticall (A table alphabeticall of hard usual English words (1604); the first English dictionary". This first version was very limited, containing only around 3000 words. The next "real" dictionary was produced by John Kersey the Younger in 1702, and entitled simply "A New English Dictionary".
Noah Webster is credited with compiling, editing, and publishing the first English dictionary in America. Samuel Johnson's 'Dictionary of the English language' was published in 1755, a full 73 years before Noah Webster's But he was an Englishman. The first dictionary of American English was Noah Webster's. Webster had a problem with English spellings and the disparate pronunciations here in America. ADDITION A brief overview of pre-Johnson dictionaries is here: http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/t53.html
Noah Webster made the first dictionary approved by the masses around the 1840's.
On April 15, 1755, Samuel Johnson published the very first dictionary. He was inspired in 1746 by a group of London booksellers, who said they would pay Johnson $1,500 to write a dictionary.
The first dictionary was published in 1755 on the 15th of April
Noah Webster published the first dictionary in 1828
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) was first published in Oxford, England.
The first Merriam Webster dictionary was published in 1806. Noah Webster was the founder or the publisher. The title was called A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language.
The first English language dictionary was published in 1604 by Robert Cawdrey and was titled "A Table Alphabeticall."
The first picture dictionary published is believed to be "The Visible World in Pictures" by John Harris, which was first published in London in 1744. It featured illustrations and descriptions of various objects, animals, and people.
The Chambers Dictionary was first published under the title of "Chamber's English Dictionary" in 1872. The Chambers Dictionary is popular with crossword and scrabble players due to the wider variety of uncommon words available in it.
The first comprehensive English dictionary was compiled by Samuel Johnson and published in 1755. It is known as "A Dictionary of the English Language."
The first Oxford English Dictionary was published on February 1, 1884. The editor of the first Oxford English Dictionary was Herbert Coleridge, but he died before it was finished and was replaced by Frederick Furnivall.
Webster's New World Dictionary was first published by the World Publishing Company in 1951. It is now published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
The first dictionary of English idioms appeared in the late nineteenth century. It was published after the first edition of the "Oxford English Dictionary."
The first dictionary of American English was written by Noah Webster and published in 1806.