The United States National Spelling Bee was started in 1926 by "The Courier-Journal", the newspaper of Louisville, Kentucky. Contests may have been held before that year. A key impetus for the contests was Noah Webster's spelling books. Webster's spelling books were an essential part of the curriculum of elementary school children in the United States for five generations. They were first published in 1786 and known as "The Blue-backed Speller". Now the key reference for the contests is the Merriam-Webster unabridged dictionary.