953 nut 59,917 #1 Posted November 30, 2016 11-30-2004 Jeopardy! contestant’s record winning streak ends On this day in 2004, after winning 74 straight games and more than $2.5 million–a record for U.S. game shows–Jeopardy! contestant Ken Jennings loses. Jennings’ extended winning streak gave the game show a huge ratings boost and turned the software engineer from Salt Lake City, Utah into a TV hero and household name, at least temporarily. Barbara Walters named him one of the 10 most fascinating people of the year (along with Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Republican operative Karl Rove and hotel heiress-socialite Paris Hilton, among others) and Jennings appeared on such shows as Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and even Sesame Street. Jennings, who was born in 1974, outside of Seattle, Washington, graduated from Brigham Young University in 2000, where he headed the school’s national quiz bowl team. Having grown up watching Jeopardy!, he made his first appearance on the show in June 2004. After a record-setting six-month run, Jennings lost on a show that aired November 30, 2004, when he was stumped by the answer: “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.” The correct response was the tax preparation company H&R Block. Propelled by his Jeopardy fame, Jennings went on to become a pitchman for various products and write several books. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
