FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Kenneth Wayne Jennings III^[(born May 23, 1974) is an American game show contestant turned host, author, and television presenter. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,700 on the U.S. game show Jeopardy! which he currently hosts, sharing duties with Mayim Bialik.

He holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy! with 74 consecutive wins. He also holds the record for the highest average correct responses per game in Jeopardy! history (for those contestants with at least 300 correct responses) with 35.9 during his original run (no other contestant has exceeded 30) and 33.1 overall, including tournaments and special events. In 2004, he won 74 consecutive Jeopardy! games before he was defeated by challenger Nancy Zerg on his 75th appearance. His total earnings on Jeopardy! are $4,522,700, consisting of: $2,520,700 over his 74 wins; a $2,000 second-place prize in his 75th appearance; a $500,000 second-place prize in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions (2005); a $300,000 second-place prize in Jeopardy!‘s IBM Challenge (2011), when he lost to the Watson computer but became the first person to beat third-place finisher Brad Rutter; a $100,000 second-place prize in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades (2014); a $100,000 second-place prize (his share of his team’s $300,000 prize) in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games (2019); and a $1 million first-place prize in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (2020).

During his first run of Jeopardy! appearances, Jennings earned the record for the highest American game show winnings. His total was surpassed by Rutter, who defeated Jennings in the finals of the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, adding $2 million to Rutter’s existing Jeopardy! winnings. Jennings regained the record after appearing on several other game shows, culminating with his results on an October 2008 appearance on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, though Rutter retained the record for highest Jeopardy! winnings and once again passed Jennings’ total after his victory in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades tournament. In 2020, he once again faced off with and won against Rutter, as well as James Holzhauer, in a special primetime series, Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time.

After his success on Jeopardy!, Jennings wrote about his experience and explored American trivia history and culture in his book Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs, published in 2006. In September 2020, he signed on as a consulting producer of Jeopardy!, a job that will include an on-air role reading categories.

Following Alex Trebek‘s death on November 8, 2020, Jennings hosted Jeopardy! as the first of a series of guest hosts. His episodes aired from January 11, 2021, to February 19, 2021. Following Mike Richards‘ exit early in the 2021–22 season, Jennings and Mayim Bialik were both named hosts; Jennings’ hosting duties are exclusive to the daily syndicated series (Bialik’s duties also involve primetime network specials and syndicated series episodes).

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Full Buck Moon

“Traditionally, we have called July’s full Moon the “Full Buck Moon.” This name comes from our Native American and Colonial past when the Moon was used to track the seasons. Bucks are growing new antlers at this time.

July’s Full Moon was also known as the Thunder Moon, because thunderstorms are so frequent during this month.”

Question of the Day

How can I clean soap scum from my glass shower doors without harming the shine of the aluminum door frame?

Find an empty spray bottle and fill it with a solution of 1 part white vinegar and 10 parts water. If you spray and wipe your doors every few days, you’ll keep the scum under control and not harm your aluminum frame.

Advice of the Day

To err is human, to repent divine, to persist devilish.

Home Hint of the Day

Ceramic planters collect more heat than wooden ones, but they also subject the plant’s roots to greater temperature fluctuations. For a more stable environment choose wood, which will most often result in superior growth and flowering.

Word of the Day

Alektorophobia

Extreme fear of live chickens

Puzzle of the Day

The Equality State.(Name the U.S. state!)

Wyoming

Born

• John Clare (poet) – 1793
• Gustav Freytag (novelist) – 1816
• David Garroway (television personality) – 1913
• Bob Crane (actor) – 1928
• Frank Ramsey (basketball player) – 1931
• Patrick Stewart (actor) – 1940
• Harrison Ford (actor) – 1942
• Cameron Crowe (film director & writer) – 1957
• Bobby Carpenter (hockey player) – 1963

Died

• Gabriel Lippmann (physicist) – 1921
• Davey Allison (race car driver) – 1993
• Yousuf Karsh (photographer) – 2002
• Red Buttons (actor) – 2006

Events

• The American Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, establishing the procedure for the creation of new states– 1787
• Current U.S. patent numbering system began– 1836
• The first official cat show took place, in London– 1871
• Theodore Roosevelt laid the corner stone for a new county courthouse in Mineola, New York, and spoke of the need for honesty in government. While he was talking, one man had his pockets picked of $140 and another man lost $103– 1900
• Women competed in modern Olympics for the first time– 1908
• Gold discovered near Cochrane, Ontario– 1909
• Stratford Festival’s first production, Ontario– 1953
• Blackout strikes NYC at 9:34 P.M. and lasts until the next day. The sweltering evening turn into a night of near total chaos. Police arrest some 3,200 looters– 1977
• Montreal hosted the first baseball All-Star Game outside the U.S.– 1982
• Ken Jennings, a software engineer from Salt Lake City, won his 30th straight game on Jeopardy! which brought his earnings to $1,004,960. He was the first contestant to pass the $1 million mark.– 2004
• A Maine fisherman caught a half-brown, half-orange lobster. The odds of catching this kind of lobster are 1 in 50 million– 2006

Weather

• 112 degrees F in Mio, Michigan– 1936
• Dover, Delaware, received 8.5 inches of rain, over a 24-hour period– 1975
• A lightning strike on a power line in Westchester County in New York triggered a 24-hour power blackout in New York City– 1977
• The temperature reached 106 degrees F in Chicago, Illinois– 1995
• Tornado touched down near Pikes Peak, Colorado– 2013

COURTESY www.almanac.com