National History Bowl and Bee
NHBB is an organization that directs several history-specific competitions a year, culminating in Nationals held each year in Arlington, VA. They also coordinate selection for the International Geography Olympiad through regional and national geography competitions.
Question setsNHBB produces 3 regional sets a year, labeled A, B, and C. The C set is significantly easier and slightly shorter than the B set, which is easier than the A set.
In addition, they produce sets for the national championship, including all the side events. Questions cover a wide range of history, including "traditional" fields like political, military, and diplomatic history, as well as cultural history. More information about the exact distribution for each can be found here. |
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National History Bowl
The History Bowl is the team event. Unlike normal quizbowl, History Bowl uses a 4-quarter format with lightning rounds and varying point values. Substitutions can be made between quarters. The field is split between 2 divisions (JV for 9/10, Varsity for 11/12).
There are 5 prelim games before single-elimination afternoon playoffs for the top 16 or 32 teams based on point total. There are no penalties for negging, which rewards aggression and educated guesses. |
Format
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All past questions can be found here.
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National History Bee
All past questions can be found here.
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The National History Bee is an individual event composed of tossups only. The field is split between 2 divisions (JV for 9/10, Varsity for 11/12). Everyone plays 3 prelim rounds in regionals, and typically 6 at nationals.
For more information, see the Rules Sheet for an abbreviated version of the Official Rules. |
NHBB Nationals
The national tournament for the National History Bee and Bowl is held annually in late April in the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia.
BowlTeams that have at least a 0.500 winning percentage at the regional preliminary rounds will qualify for nationals. At nationals, the rules are the same, but the structure is more complex. Teams play in pre-seeded groups of 6 teams in the morning. The top 3 and bottom 3 of each morning group are re-bracketed into afternoon upper and lower brackets of 6 teams based on performance in the morning. In Varsity, the top 32 in the afternoon advance into superplayoff brackets of 4 teams each, the top teams which play in the final bracket of 8; in Junior Varsity, the top 32 play single elimination to determine the champion.
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BeeIndividuals who finish in the top half of a regional bee qualify for the national competition. At nationals, there are 35 questions read (questions 31-35 provide no bonus points). The format consists of 6 preliminary rounds. The top finishers in both the Varsity and Junior Varsity advance to the playoffs (the exact number that advance depend on number of participants, but is typically 32). Participants are seeded by preliminary performance into different rooms, and the finalists are determined from these playoff rounds.
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US History Bee
The United States History Bee is an individual event composed of tossups only. The field is split between 2 divisions (JV for 9/10, Varsity for 11/12). The questions are strictly U.S. History. The rules, for regionals and nationals, are the same as the National History Bee.
Geography Olympiad
The Geography Olympiad is an individual event composed of tossups only. The field is split between 2 divisions (JV and Varsity are determined by birth date, per International Geography Olympiad rules). The questions are strictly geography. The rules, for regionals and nationals, are the same as the National History Bee. The winners of various national phases are invited to the International Geography Olympiad.