Webpage last updated: July 25, 2025
Each year National History Day selects a theme that is intentionally broad enough so that you can select topics from anywhere in the world and any time period. During the 2026–2027 school year you and all National History Day students will dive into a topic based on the theme, Innovation in History: Impact, Influence Change. You will ask questions about time, place and context, cause and effect, change over time, and impact and significance. You must consider not only when and where events happened, but also why they occurred, and what factors contributed to their development. You will describe your topic and then further develop it through analysis, drawing conclusions about how the topic influenced and was influenced by people, ideas, or events.
It’s important that you read NHD’s Theme Narrative before choosing a topic. This theme asks students to explore topics relating to “Innovation in History.” According to the NHD Theme Narrative, “Remember that innovation is not simply an invention, but a creative and new approach to how we live, work, and think and its consequences for human society."
This year's theme asks students to consider how a particular innovation impacted the people and places involved, how it influenced the course of history, and what changes resulted from that innovation.
Topics should be carefully selected and developed in ways that best use students’ talents and abilities. Whether a topic is a well-known event in world history or focuses on a little-known individual from a small community, students should be careful to place their topics into historical perspective, examine the significance of their topics in history, and show how their topic clearly relates to the concept of innovation and how it demonstrates their understanding of that innovation's impact, influence, and change.
After deciding on your research topic, you must investigate historical context, historical significance, and the topic's relationship to the theme by conducting research in libraries, archives, and museums; through oral history interviews; and by visiting historic sites. Also remember to use evidence from your research to explain how your topic has influenced history. In other words, answer the question, "So What?"
Download a copy of this year’s theme book and theme related resources here.
For information:
National History Day®
4511 Knox Road, Suite 205
College Park, Maryland 20740
Phone: (301) 314-9739
Fax: (301) 314-9767
http://www.nhd.org