[emw]

> Most of those languages have made a spelling reform or two

This includes English! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_spelling_refor... covers several major successful (and unsuccessful) English spelling reform efforts since the 16th century.

The Atlantic article discusses the shenanigans of Belgian printers inserting unnecessary letters into words, changing e.g. "frend" to "friend". Spelling Reform 1 (SR1), a failed effort from the late '60s and '70s, would have addressed that and more.

Noah Webster -- of Merriam-Webster Dictionary fame -- spearheaded early American spelling reform. This is why American English writes "favorite" instead of "favourite", "center" instead of "centre", "catalog" instead of "catalogue", etc.