The Bee and Bowl events listed below are all played with a buzzer using “pyramidal-style” questions that contain multiple clue, and begin with the hardest clues, and end with the easiest clues. This allows students who know more about the question topic to ring in and score ahead of the other students.

Note that all playoff rounds (and the entirety of the Blitz) will be played with the IAC Bee Championships Playoffs scoring (6, 5, or 4 points for power during the question depending on the buzzpoint, 3 points for a correct answer after the question, -2 for an incorrect response during the question, -1 for an incorrect response at the end of the question). There is no limit to how many students can buzz incorrectly on such questions (i.e. three incorrect answers does not kill the question for the other students who haven’t yet rung in).

The finals and playoff rules will vary from event to event. In all cases, we will announce how many students will make the final before the preliminaries begin, and what the rules of the finals are before the finals begin.

The 2025 Olympiad Syllabus, including descriptions and content distribution for all buzzer-based and exam competitions, will be available in early 2025. However, the 2023 Olympiad Syllabus is available here, and for events that are repeating from the 2023 Olympiad (other than the Scramble and Blitz), students may safely assume that the syllabus will be very similar or identical to the 2023 Syllabus.

Required Events

International History Bee World Championships

The International History Olympiad affords the opportunity to crown a World Champion in the International History Bee. With various national and regional champions and top challengers in attendance, this is sure to be one of the highlights of the week. Very few people ever earn the title of World Champion, perhaps this will be your chance! The International History Bee World Championships will consist of 6 preliminary rounds and 2 playoff rounds. The preliminary rounds will each have 30 questions for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 25 questions for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions. The playoff rounds will have 35 questions for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 30 questions for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions.

International History Bowl World Championships

The International History Bowl World Championships will pit teams (determined by the results of the preliminary rounds of the International History Bee World Championships) from countries and US states against each other in the usual Bowl format. The champion team will have their names engraved on the World Champions’ Bowl as well! All rounds will feature 10 first quarter questions in the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 8 in the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions. The 3rd quarter (60 second rounds) will feature 8 questions in each category in the three older age divisions, and 6 questions in each category in the two younger age divisions.

Optional Events – Standard Bee Format

At the 2025 Olympiad, all of the following Standard Bee format events will consist of 3 preliminary rounds and one final round. In the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, rounds will consist of 30 questions. In the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions, rounds will consist of 25 questions. In the preliminary rounds, all age divisions will play “out at 6” with bonus points calculated per standard International History Bee Asian and European Division rules.  IAC reserves the right to change the preliminary round rules to the Championship Finals scoring system if needed.
At every buzzer-based competition at the 2025 Olympiad, the final round (and for the International History Bee World Championships, the semifinal round as well), will be contested on the Championships Finals scoring system. Unless stated otherwise, the number of points needed to go out and secure victory/a placement/advancement is 30 in all rounds, with the exception of the International History Bee World Championships, where the number is 40.

Ancient History Bee

This competition will feature questions on ancient societies throughout the world. In addition to the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East, this competition will include questions on all parts of the world up to different points in their historical development. For example, we will consider Latin America through the Spanish conquests of the Incan and Aztec empires, but for the Mediterranean world, questions will only range through 476 AD. A full syllabus will be forthcoming in early 2025. Alea iacta est!

French History Bee

This Bee-style tournament will comprehensively test your knowledge of our host nation, dating back to ancient times. France has a glorious and tumultuous history, and this competition will span the millenia to find the students with the deepest knowledge of its past. Bonne chance!

Note that weather permitting, we are planning on holding the finals of this tournament on the Champs de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower!

French Military History Bee

The 2023 Olympiad will feature the French Military History Bee, where students will be tested specifically on the military history of our host country. While the official distribution is forthcoming, this event will cover both the military history of the lands occupied by metropolitan France dating back to ancient times, as well as the military history of the modern French state (including French military engagements across the globe since that time).

History of STEM Bee

This tournament will feature questions on the history of the STEM fields: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The questions will require an understanding of both historical and technical processes and developments from the first grasps at understanding our place in the universe by ancient scientists to the wonders of the 21st century.

Historical Geography Bee

Many students who enjoy studying history also enjoy studying geography. This tournament lies at the intersection of these two disciplines, as players will be challenged on their knowledge of historical geography. This includes bygone political configurations, as well as the role that geography has played in determining the outcome of historic events.

Recent History Bee

Do you keep up with current events? Have you followed the course history has taken throughout your lifetime? Many players only rarely encounter recent history in their school coursework, but a knowledge of recent history is self-evidently important for being a well-informed citizen. Here’s your chance to put your knowledge of recent events, from geopolitics to global popular culture to use.

Optional Events – Scramble & Blitz Format

Scramble

The Scramble is a Bee-style event unique to the Olympiad. While our quiz tournaments typically reward long-term knowledge of numerous eras and places throughout history, the Scramble is a tournament where the focus will only be announced roughly one week before the start of the Olympiad. Players who take the Scramble challenge will then have approximately one week to cram on the topic. The Scramble will be played on the opening night of the Olympiad so that players do not afterwards need to retain what they have studied for the Scramble while they are preparing for other events. What will the Scramble topic be? Can you cram as well as you can study for the long-term? Good luck in this challenging tournament! There are two preliminary rounds of 25 questions and one final round of 25 questions in the Scramble. All age divisions play the same questions.

Blitz

The Blitz is a bee event that will focus on a very specific topic in history that no one is expected to have any extensive prior knowledge of. The topic itself will be announced at the beginning of the competition. Students will be given a packet of reference material on the topic; all answerlines in the tossups will be contained within these pages. After a 30 minute study period, students take a 15 question multiple-choice exam to determine seeding. Following an additional 30 minute study period, one round of 25 tossup questions is played. The top players in each room in each division, are then given an additional 30 minutes to study, and then they compete in a 25 question final. All age divisions play the same questions.

To avoid random guessing, all questions in the Blitz will be played using the Championships Playoffs scoring system.

Optional Events – Multimedia Format

The 2025 Olympiad will see an expanded multimedia-based Bee format, consisting of a preliminary multiple-choice exam and a final buzzer-based round. For each event below (except the Visual History Bee which is entirely visual throughout), some multiple-choice questions will be strictly text-based, while others will involve images, video clips, and/or audio clips, depending on the event. For each of these events, the preliminary exam will be timed at 25 minutes, though the number of questions in each exam may vary. The number of questions in each preliminary exam is likely to be 75 for Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School students, 70 for Intermediate students, and 65 for Elementary students.
Note that all competing students are invited to play the final round for final placement, though only the top group in each age division (likely 10 students per age division in almost all, if not all cases) will be eligible to contest the medals. There are 40 questions in the buzzer-based final round for Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, 35 questions in the Intermediate Division final, and 30 questions in the Elementary Division final. All questions in the Visual History Finals will be visual-based. 50% of questions in the Art History, Classical Music, Film History, and Popular Music History Bees will be audio, visual, or audio-visual based. 25% of questions in the Sports History Final will be audio, visual, or audio-visual based. Note that some multimedia buzzer questions may contain additional text that accompanies the images, musical pieces, or film clips as they are played / displayed.

Art History Bee

The development of art and architecture through the centuries has reflected humanity’s aspirations, emotions, and sense of place in the universe. This unique Bee-style competition is sure to be one of the highlights of the Olympiad, as half of the tossup questions will feature visual components. In certain instances, players may be asked to identify paintings, while in other questions, the answerlines may be a particular artist, art movement, country whose art is being featured, or related topics.

Classical Music History Bee

Our Classical Music History tournament represents a unique opportunity for music scholars to play in a competition using audio-based tossups. These will constitute 50% of the questions, which will focus on the development of modern Classical music from its origins in the Renaissance period up until the present-day. Will your tournament experience recall Beethoven’s Ode to Joy or Chopin’s Marche Funèbre? Take the challenge of our Classical Music History tournament to find out!

Film History Bee

The 2025 Olympiad will feature a new competition on the history of film. In the final round, 20 of the 40 questions will feature film clips from which students will need to identify the film, director, actor, or other sought after answers. If you are a movie buff or budding cineaste, this will be a great competition for you to test your skills!

Pop Music History Bee

This tournament will focus on the development of popular music from the 19th century to the present-day, including the Great American Songbook, Musicals, Operettas, Waltzes and Dance Music, Blues, Ragtime, Big Band, Jazz, Swing, Country and Western, Rock and Roll, Disco, Punk, New Wave, Grunge, Rap, Techno, Hip Hop, K-Pop, J-Pop, and more. Half of the questions will be audio-based, with many popular artists represented. Good luck competing on this unique set of questions as players strive to become rock stars with the buzzer!

Sports History Bee

From the beginnings of the Olympics in 776 BC until the present-day, sporting events have had their own unique history. This tournament will focus on global sports, and the influence of sports on history and history on sports. Will your knowledge of the wide world of sports bring you the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat? Take the challenge and find out!

Visual History Bee

Back by popular demand! The Visual History Bee returns to the lineup for the 2025 Olympiad. All questions on both the preliminary multiple choice exam and the final round will be visual-based. Expect maps, photographs, artwork, artifacts, newspapers, documents, literature, and more.

Optional Events – Other Language Format

The 2025 Olympiad will see the debut of official medal competitions in languages other than English! We are delighted to present these in the other three most-widely spoken native languages in the world, plus the official language of our host country. Thus we will be offering the Chinese Language History Bee (中文历史测验), the Spanish Language History Bee (Quiz de Historia en Idioma Español), the Hindi Language History Bee (हिंदी भाषा में इतिहास प्रश्नोत्तरी), and the French Language History Bee (Quiz Historique en Langue Française).
Note that each of these competitions will feature three preliminary rounds of 30 questions for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 25 questions for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions. The finals will have one round of 35 questions for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 30 questions for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions. Questions will be either 2 or 3 sentences in length in the preliminary round and 3-4 sentences in length in the final round. Questions in the first half of each round will be geared more towards native speakers. Questions towards the end of each of the three preliminary rounds will be made accessible for students who are learning these languages in school, and will be significantly shorter and easier than the first half of each round.
Note that each of these competitions will follow the standard Olympiad distribution as per the Battery Exam. Thus do not expect proportionally more questions on Chinese history in the Chinese Language History Bee, nor proportionally more questions on French history in the French History Bee, etc.

Chinese Language History Bee (中文历史测验)

This competition will take place in Chinese and will feature 30 questions per round for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 25 questions per round for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions.

French Language History Bee (Quiz Historique en Langue Française)

This competition will take place in French and will feature 30 questions per round for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 25 questions per round for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions.

Hindi Language History Bee (हिंदी भाषा में इतिहास प्रश्नोत्तरी)

This competition will take place in Hindi and will feature 30 questions per round for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 25 questions per round for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions.

Spanish Language History Bee (Quiz de Historia en Idioma Español)

This competition will take place in Spanish and will feature 30 questions per round for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School Divisions, and 25 questions per round for the Intermediate and Elementary Divisions.