A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

RAY

Mon, 21 Aug '23
Author Bradbury
Fri, 31 Mar '23
Light line
Sat, 24 Dec '22
Beam
Sun, 23 Oct '22
___ gun (alien zapper)
Thu, 6 Oct '22
Shiner?
Tue, 26 Jul '22
Beam of sunshine
Fri, 22 Jul '22
Line in geometry
Wed, 16 Mar '22
Tampa Bay pro
Tue, 25 May '21
Output from a sci-fi weapon
Fri, 8 Jan '21
Good name for a marine biologist?