1925 — gladiolus

The championship word from the inaugural National Spelling Bee in 1925 was "gladiolus," a flowering plant in the iris family.

Eleven-year-old Frank Neuhauser of Kentucky correctly spelled it to take home the top prize — $500 in gold pieces and a trip to the White House.

When he returned to Louisville, crowds greeted him with a ticker-tape parade and bouquets of aptly chosen gladiolus flowers, according to The Washington Post's obituary of Neuhauser, who died in 2011.

The New York Times called Neuhauser's winning word "a cakewalk by modern standards" that "harks back to simpler times."

In the above photo, sixth-place finisher Patrick Kelly poses with President Calvin Coolidge.