| 58th Scripps National Spelling Bee | |
|---|---|
The Capital Hilton, site of the 58th National Spelling Bee | |
| Date | June 5–6, 1985 |
| Location | The Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. [1] |
| Winner | Balu Natarajan |
| Age | 13 |
| Residence | Bolingbrook, Illinois |
| Sponsor | Chicago Tribune |
| Sponsor location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Winning word | milieu |
| No. of contestants | 168 [2] |
| Pronouncer | Alex Cameron |
| Preceded by | 57th Scripps National Spelling Bee |
| Followed by | 59th Scripps National Spelling Bee |
The 58th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Capital Hilton on June 5–6, 1985, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company and is held at a hotel or convention center in Washington, D.C. during the week following Memorial Day weekend. Since 2011, it has been held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center hotel in National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside Washington D.C. It was previously held at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington D.C. from 1996 to 2010.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or D.C., is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, first President of the United States and Founding Father. As the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, Washington is an important world political capital. The city is also one of the most visited cities in the world, with more than 20 million tourists annually.
The Capital Hilton is a historic hotel located just north of the White House on 16th Street in Washington, D.C.
The winner was 13 year old eighth-grader Balu Natarajan of Bolingbrook, Illinois, in his third appearance at the Bee (he finished 45th in 1983 and 63rd in 1984), the first winner from the Chicago area. [2] He spelled "milieu" for the win. Second place went to 13-year old Kate Lingley of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, who missed "farrago." Another 13-year old, Tanya Solomon of Kansas City, Missouri, took third, missing "syllepsis." [3]
The village of Bolingbrook is a southwest suburb of Chicago in Will and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2017 US Census, the population is 75,201. It is the 17th largest incorporated place in Illinois and the state's 2nd largest village.
Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States. As of the 2017 census-estimate, it has a population of 2,716,450, which makes it the most populous city in the Midwestern United States. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States, and the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is often referred to as "Chicagoland." The Chicago metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, the fourth largest in North America, and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.
Dover-Foxcroft is the largest town in, and the seat of, Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,213 at the 2010 census. Dover-Foxcroft is home to the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival, an annual one-day event which takes place in late June each year. It started in 2009 to honor the whoopie pie. The whoopie pie became the official state treat of Maine in 2013. The 2012 festival brought 5,000 people to the town while the 2014 event brought in more than 7,500 attendees.
168 spellers competed in the Bee, 17 more than competed the previous year. There were 67 boys and 101 girls, including 19 repeat contestants, [3] one 9-year-old, two 10-year olds, 19 at age 11, 26 at age 12, 65 at age 13, and 55 at age 14. A total of 719 words were used. [4] [5]
Natarajan was the first Indian-American to win the Bee, and has been credited for inspiring the later dominance of Indian-Americans in the bee. [6] [7] [8] [9]
In addition to non-cash gifts, the first-place winner received $1,000. Total prize money to all finalists was $10,500. [2] [3] [10]
