Longest-running spelling competition

The longest-running spelling competition is the Scripps National Spelling Bee (USA), which has been hosting a national competition every year since 17 June 1925, bar a few exceptions where it was cancelled for safety reasons during 1943-45 (World War II) and 2020 (the Covid-19 pandemic). It started as an amalgamation of smaller-scale local spelling bees under the stewardship of The Courier-Journal newspaper based in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, and was formally taken over by the E W Scripps Company in 1941; the contest was rebranded as the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and the name was shortened to Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2004. The finals of the bee take place in May/June each year and, since 2011, have been staged at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center hotel in National Harbor, Maryland, USA. The winner of the inaugural competition in 1925 was 11-year-old Frank Neuhauser of Louisville, who walked away with the top prize of $500 after successfully spelling "gladiolus" (a flowering bulb and a form of Roman sword).

The first nationwide spelling bee competition was the 1908 National Education Association Spelling Bee that took place on 29 June 1908 at the Hippodrome Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It was won by 13-year-old Marie C Bolden of Cleveland who was the only entrant in her state team to correctly spell all of her words. The story caused quite a stir at the time, sadly not because of Bolden's spelling ability but because she was African American.

At the 92nd edition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee that took place on 26-30 May 2019, an unprecedented eight contestants (since dubbed the "Octochamps") were announced co-victors.

The youngest ever winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is Nihar "The Machine" Janga (USA, b. 18 November 2004), who was named co-champion aged 11 years 191 days at the 89th edition of the event on 26 May 2016 . He shared that year's title with 13-year-old Jairam Hathwar.

Although spelling contests are thought to date back to at least the early 1800s, the earliest documented use of the term "spelling bee" was in the April 1850 edition of The Knickerbocker, a New York-based literary magazine.