Who authored An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828, helping shape standard American spelling?

Noah Webster

Noah Webster spent over 20 years compiling his 1828 dictionary, which standardized American spellings to be more phonetic and distinct from British English. It was Webster who famously simplified words by removing the 'u' from 'colour' and 'honour' and changing the 're' in 'theatre' to 'er.'