Education: Spellbinder
In the 34 years of the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee, girls have been the winners almost 2 to 1. Last week in Washington, the championship went to a boy: John Capehart, 12, a Tulsa neurosurgeon's son who competed against 49 girls and 23 other boys picked from 5,000,000 entrants. Word that tripped the runner-up: distichous (meaning arranged in two vertical rows, and misspelled distychous). Orthographophile Capehart's winning word, clinching the $1,000 prize: smaragdine (of or pertaining to emerald).
Most Popular »
- Why Obama Has to Worry About Polls
- The Pentagon Prepares for a Missile Attack from 'Iran'
- Israel vs. Hizballah: Drumbeats of War
- Will Your Next Car be Made in India?
- The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade from Hell
- Dear President Obama: What North Korea Might Say
- In Cleveland, Worker Co-Ops Look to a Spanish Model
- Stalemate: How Obama's Iran Outreach Failed
- Top Stocks of the Decade
- Made in India: The $12,000 Electric Car
- In Cleveland, Worker Co-Ops Look to a Spanish Model
- Why Obama Has to Worry About Polls
- Dear President Obama: What North Korea Might Say
- Will Your Next Car be Made in India?
- Forcing Insurers to Spend Enough on Health Care
- The Importance of Economic Equality
- Have Yourself a Sandinista Christmas...
- Agent Orange Poisons New Generations in Vietnam
- Despite Aid, Yemen Faces Growing Al-Qaeda Threat
- Top Stocks of the Decade
Top Stories on TIME.com
Quotes of the Day »
ANDREW J. OSWALD, economics professor, on his study published in Science magazine that found that the state of New York placed last in the nation in the happiness rating
RSS