• Contest Rule Book PDF 

• This edition of the Contest Rule Book contains important rule revisions. It is your source for the rules that apply to all NHD contests from the Regional to the National levels. Your entry must follow these rules at these competition levels. However, the NHD program is flexible at the school level. Your teacher may adapt some of the rules or create other requirements. Please follow your teacher’s adaptations or requirements for school-level competitions.

• Read this Contest Rule Book carefully before you begin work on your entry. Because this book is updated every few years, be certain you are using the most current edition.

• This is the Contest Rule Book for all NHD contest levels.

• Every year the National History Day office selects a broad theme to be used in the History Day Competition. Students who are interested in participating in history day may choose any topic related to local, regional, national, or world history, as long as there is a connection to the theme. There are a panel of judges who will look for evidence that the History Day theme has been addressed in their projects. 

• To celebrate our 50th anniversary, NHD’s theme will be Turning Points in History. This year’s theme invites you to consider questions of time and place, cause and effect, change over time, and impact and significance. 

• A turning point in history is more than just an important event that happened a long time ago. It is more than a new idea or a particular action taken by an
  individual. A turning point is an idea, event, or action that directly, or sometimes indirectly, causes change.

• The following resources are available to start defining your topic and begin your research.

Please make sure to review rule changes prior to entering competition