Samuel Johnson
It was not until 1762 that he became famous and the government gave him a pension of three hundred pounds a year.  He started a club (called "The Club") which included a lot of famous people like the painter Joshua Reynolds and the writer Oliver Goldsmith (see picture).  Johnson  was now so famous that he was given an honorary doctorate (the title of "Doctor")  from Trinity College, Dublin in 1765, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1775.