National Spelling Bee

The National Spelling Bee was launched by the Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal in 1925. With competitions, cash prizes, and a trip to the nation's capital, it was hoped the Bee would stimulate “general interest among pupils in a dull subject.” The Scripps Howard News Service took over the Bee in 1941. Over the years the national finals have grown from a mere 9 contestants to 278. In 2012, Snigdha Nandipati, a fourteen year-old from San Diego, Calif., took home more than $40,000 in cash and prizes for correctly spelling guetapens. Here are the winning words that made past spellers into national champions.

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1925 gladiolus 1926 abrogate 1927 luxuriance 1928 albumen 1929 asceticism 1930 fracas 1931 foulard 1932 knack 1933 propitiatory 1934 deteriorating 1935 intelligible 1936 interning 1937 promiscuous 1938 sanitarium 1939 canonical 1940 therapy 1941 initials 1942 sacrilegious 1943 NO BEE 1944 NO BEE 1945 NO BEE 1946 semaphore 1947 chlorophyll 1948 psychiatry 1949 dulcimer 1950 haruspex 1951 insouciant 1952 vignette 1953 soubrette 1954 transept 1955 custaceology 1956 condominium 1957 schappe 1958 syllepsis 1959 cacolet 1960 troche 1961 smaragdine 1962 esquamulose 1963 equipage 1964 sycophant 1965 eczema

1966 ratoon 1967 chihuahua 1968 abalone 1969 interlocutory 1970 croissant 1971 shalloon 1972 macerate 1973 vouchsafe 1974 hydrophyte 1975 incisor 1976 narcolepsy 1977 cambist 1978 deification 1979 maculature 1980 elucubrate 1981 sarcophagus 1982 psoriasis 1983 Purim 1984 luge 1985 milieu 1986 odontalgia 1987 staphylococci 1988 elegiacal 1989 spoliator 1990 fibranne 1991 antipyretic 1992 lyceum 1993 kamikaze 1994 antediluvian 1995 xanthosis 1996 vivisepulture 1997 euonym 1998 chiaroscurist 1999 logorrhea 2000 démarche 2001 succedaneum 2002 prospicience 2003 pococurante 2004 autochthonous 2005 appoggiatura 2006 ursprache 2007 serrefine 2008 guerdon 2009 laodicean 2010 stromuhr 2011 cymotrichous 2012 guetapens

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