"History of the spelling bee"

Etymological story "Bee"

1530

Used metaphorically for "busy worker" since 1530s. The word bee, used in the spelling bee, is one of those riddles that has never been satisfactorily addressed. It is a fairly old and widely used word, it refers to a community social gathering in which friends and neighbors come together in a single activity.

Spelling beginnings

1786

The practice of holding this type of contest in support of language learning originated in the United States, thanks to the spelling books of Noah Webster published in 1786 and known as "Blue-backed Spellers". These books have been an integral part of the American elementary school curriculum for more than five generations.

First Contest

1925

It is a competition where contestants spell a wide selection of words, usually with varying degrees of difficulty.The concept is believed to have originated in the United States. The first winner of an official spelling bee was Frank Neuhauser,which won the 1st National Spelling Bee (now known as the Scripps National Spelling Bee) in Washington,D.C. in 1925 at the age of eleven. See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7EKBJH0-Ro

Alternate contests

1996

The First National Adult Spelling Bee began in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1996. Sponsored by the Wyoming AARP, it is open to contestants age 50 and older. Maria Dawson is the only contestant to have won two titles in a row in the "National Senior Spelling Bee." Watch video:older.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpNk-TR16DU

Latin america

2000

The 1st National Spelling Competition in Venezuela, took place in Caracas in 2002 and was organized by the Venezuelan American Center (CVA). In Peru it was institutionalized in 2013 by the Ministry of Education. In Colombia, by the official educational institutions of
Bogota, This contest was promoted since 2014. See Pdf: https://www.educacionbogota.edu.co/archivos/

Worldwide.

2005

Since 2006, the championship rounds of the national spelling bee have been broadcast live on ABC where contestants hailed from the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guam, the Islands Virgins, South America, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and a German military base, in addition to the United States. This was the first year that other foreign participants attended to the competition. Watch video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkS7oMbUUIo

Present

2018

Karthik Nemmani, of McKinney, Texas, 14, won the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night after correctly spelling the word koinonia.This was the first time that Nemmani participated in the national final. See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_yW6j2gN1w