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The first spelling bee in history took place in 1852. Then, in 1925, the Courier-Journal sponsored the first individual National Spelling Bee, drawing widespread attention from the American public. Nearly every year since then, the National Spelling Bee has taken place in Washington D.C. in May and is currently broadcast by ESPN. The champion of the bee is awarded not only $40,000 but also gets to meet the President of the United States. Colleges in the United States and abroad see participation in the National Spelling Bee as an impressive feat on one’s resume, and thus give credit to competitors. Every year, more than 50 million teenagers from over 100 countries participate in spelling bees.

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In 2016 the spelling competition originated in China and was founded by the president of SPBCN (Spelling Bee of China), Mr. Dean Zhang and his fellow team members. After two years of success in China, in 2018, Mr. Zhang invited 1989 National Spelling Bee champion Mr. Scott Isaacs, 2014 champion Sriram Hathwar, and 2016 champion Jairam Hathwar in association with the SASB (South Asian Spelling Bee) to organize the inaugural ITSO (International Team Spelling Olympiad). From October 2018 to February 2019, they will host national-level competitions in the United States, Canada, and China. Then, in July 2019, they will invite representative teams from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia to participate in first ITSO, which will be hosted at Princeton University.

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