List of Scripps National Spelling Bee champions

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a competition held annually in Washington, D.C. in the United States at the Grand Hyatt Hotel over a two day period at the end of May or beginning of June. The spelling bee competition began in 1925, and was organized by The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky until the Scripps Howard Broadcasting Company assumed sponsorship in 1941. The media conglomerate, now known as the E. W. Scripps Company, has continued to sponsor the competition to this date. The competition was canceled from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II. Every speller in the competition has previously participated in a local spelling bee, usually organized by a local newspaper. Although the Bee is titled "National", spellers from Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Guam, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have entered the competition. The competition has only been won by two people from outside the fifty U.S. states—the first time by a Puerto Rican in 1975, the second by a Jamaican in 1998.

The National Spelling Bee has been televised live in the United States since 1994 on ESPN, a Disney owned cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming. As of 2006, ABC, also owned by Disney, has broadcast the final rounds over a live two-hour timeslot.

The National Spelling Bee is primarily an oral competition conducted in elimination rounds until only one speller remains. The first round consists of a 25-word written test, the remaining rounds are oral spelling tests. The competition has been declared a tie three times, in 1950, 1957 and 1962. As of 2008, forty-three champions have been girls, and forty-one have been boys.

List of champions

1925–1929

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1925	gladiolus		Louisville Courier-Journal	Louisville, KY
1926	abrogate		Louisville Courier-Journal	Louisville, KY
1927	luxuriance		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, OH
1928	albumen		South Bend Tribune	South Bend, IN
1929	asceticism		Omaha World-Herald	Omaha, NE

1930–1939

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1930	fracas		Des Moines Register & Tribune	Des Moines, IA
1931	foulard		White Hall Register-Republican	White Hall, IL
1932	knack		Des Moines Register & Tribune	Des Moines, IA
1933	torsion		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, OH
1934	deteriorating		Portland Evening Express	Portland, ME
1935	intelligible		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, OH
1936	interning		Des Moines Register & Tribune	Des Moines, IA
1937	promiscuous		Louisville Courier-Journal	Louisville, KY
1938	sanitarium		Louisville Times	Louisville, KY
1939	canonical		Worcester Telegram & Gazette	Worcester, MA

1940–1949

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1940	therapy		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, TN
1941	initials		Detroit News	Detroit, MI
1942	sacrilegious		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, TX
1946	semaphore		Des Moines Register & Tribune	Des Moines, IA
1947	chlorophyll		Atlanta Journal	Atlanta, GA
1948	psychiatry		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, OH
1949	dulcimer		Canton Repository	Canton, OH

1950–1959

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1950	meticulosity		Cleveland Press	Cleveland, OH
1950	meticulosity		Atlanta Journal	Atlanta, GA
1951	insouciant		Memphis Press Scimitar	Memphis, TN
1952	vignette		Winston-Salem Journal	Winston-Salem, NC
1953	soubrette		Arizona Republic	Phoenix, AZ
1954	transept		Norristown Times Herald	Norristown, PA
1955	crustaceology		St. Louis Globe-Democrat	St. Louis, MO
1956	condominium		Pittsburgh Press	Pittsburgh, PA
1957	schappe		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, CO
1957	schappe		Canton Repository	Canton, OH
1958	syllepsis		Topeka Daily Capital	Topeka, KS
1959	catamaran		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, CO

1960–1969

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1960	eudaemonic		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, TN
1961	smaragdine		Tulsa Tribune	Tulsa, OK
1962	esquamulose		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, TX
1962	esquamulose		St. Louis Globe-Democrat	St. Louis, MO
1963	equipage		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, TN
1964	sycophant		Akron Beacon Journal	Akron, OH
1965	eczema		Tulsa Tribune	Tulsa, OK
1966	ratoon		Houston Chronicle	Houston, TX
1967	chihuahua		The Omaha World-Herald	Omaha, NE
1968	abalone		The Topeka Daily Capital	Topeka, KS
1969	interlocutory		Dallas Morning News	Dallas, TX

1970–1979

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1970	croissant		Winston-Salem Journal & Sentinel	Winston-Salem, NC
1971	shalloon		Philadelphia Bulletin	Philadelphia, PA
1972	macerate		Lubbock Avalanche-Journal	Lubbock, TX
1973	vouchsafe		Fort Worth Press	Fort Worth, TX
1974	hydrophyte		Birmingham Post-Herald	Birmingham, AL
1975	incisor		San Juan Star	San Juan, PR
1976	narcolepsy		Syracuse Herald-Journal	Syracuse, NY
1977	cambist		The Pittsburgh Press	Pittsburgh, PA
1978	deification		The Topeka Capital-Journal	Topeka, KS
1979	maculature		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, CO

1980–1989

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1980	elucubrate		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, CO
1981	sarcophagus		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, TX
1982	psoriasis		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, CO
1983	Purim		El Paso Herald-Post	El Paso, TX
1984	luge		Loudoun Times-Mirror	Leesburg, VA
1985	milieu		Chicago Tribune	Chicago, IL
1986	odontalgia		''The Patriot News	Harrisburg, PA
1987	staphylococci		The Pittsburgh Press	Pittsburgh, PA
1988	elegiacal		The Sacramento Bee	Sacramento, CA
1989	spoliator		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, CO

1990–1999

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
1990	fibranne		The Seattle Times	Seattle, WA
1991	antipyretic		Wisconsin State Journal	Madison, WI
1992	lyceum		The Richmond News Leader	Richmond, VA
1993	kamikaze		The Commercial Appeal	Memphis, TN
1994	antediluvian		The Knoxville News-Sentinel	Knoxville, TN
1995	xanthosis		The Commercial Appeal	Memphis, TN
1996	vivisepulture		The Palm Beach Post	West Palm Beach, FL
1997	euonym		New York Daily News	New York, NY
1998	chiaroscurist		Phillips & Phillips Stationery Suppliers	Kingston, Jamaica
1999	logorrhea		The Tampa Tribune	Tampa, FL

2000–2008

Year

Winning word	Winner	Sponsor	Sponsor's location	Notes
2000	demarche		St. Louis Post-Dispatch	St. Louis, MO
2001	succedaneum		Aitkin Independent Age	Aitkin, MN
2002	prospicience		Rocky Mountain News	Denver, CO
2003	pococurante		The Dallas Morning News	Dallas, TX
2004	autochthonous		South Bend Tribune	South Bend, IN
2005	appoggiatura		San Diego Union-Tribune	San Diego, CA
2006	Ursprache		Asbury Park Press/Home News Tribune	Spring Lake, NJ
2007	serrefine		Contra Costa Times	Walnut Creek, CA
2008	guerdon		Journal and Courier	West Lafayette, IN

Notes

Although the Scripps National Spelling Bee website gives Dean Lucas's winning word as "luxuriance", and Virginia Hogan's winning word as "asceticism", two 1929 articles from Time Magazine and The New York Times credit Virginia Hogan as winning the 1929 Bee with "luxuriance", so it is possible Dean Lucas's winning word is "asceticism".

Joint champions were announced after the contestants had exhausted the list of words.

Joint champions were announced after Sandra Owen was knocked out of the competition by spelling "xylophagus" as "xylophagous", with the judges later realizing that it was an acceptable spelling variant (though she still spelled the winning word, "schappe" incorrectly as "schaup").

Joint champions were announced.

Barrie, Jacques, Paige, Blake, and George now serve as Scripps National Spelling Bee staff members.

See also

• Mathcounts

References

External links

• Official website of the Scripps National Spelling Bee