Final Jeopardy: U.S. Cities (1-26-15)

The Final Jeopardy question (1/26/2015), in the category “U.S. Cities” was:

In 1846 it had 200 people; 14 years later, thanks to a discovery, it had over 50,000 making it No. 15 in the country.

New champ Brad Nehring won $16,001 on Friday. Today he takes on these two players: Eric Park, from Dallas, TX; and Christine Kim, from Greenwich, CT.

Round 1: Christine found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Government & Politics” under the $800 clue. She was in the lead with $5,600, $2,600 more than Brad in second place. She decided to “roll the dice” with a $5,000 bet and she was RIGHT.

GOP Congressman Steve Scalise from Louisiana has this post in the house working to persuade others to vote with the party. show

WHAT IS THE WHIP?

Christine finished in the lead with $10,600. Brad was second with $3,000 and Eric was last with $1,200.

Round 2: Brad found the first Daily Double in “Through the Looking Glass” under the $1,600 clue. He was now in second place with $11,800, $1,200 less than Christine’s lead. He bet $1,500 and he was RIGHT.

In a preface, Lewis Carroll gives the pronunciation of some new words found in this poem. show

WHAT IS “JABBERWOCKY”?

Brad found the last Daily Double in “Physical Science” under the $1,200 clue. He was in second place with $14,100, $500 less than Christine’s lead and there were 4 clues left and less than a minute to go. He bet $400 and thought it was nitrogen. That was WRONG.

The exosphere, the edge of the atmosphere, is primarily made of particles of hydrogen & this element. show

WHAT IS HELIUM?

Christine finished in the lead with $14,600. Brad was next with $13,700 and Eric was in third place with $7,200.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS SAN FRANCISCO?

“The California gold rush starting in 1848 led to a large boom in population, including considerable immigration. Between January 1848 and December 1849, the population of San Francisco increased from 1,000 to 25,000. The rapid growth continued through the 1850s and under the influence of the 1859 Comstock Lode silver discovery. This rapid growth complicated city planning efforts, leaving a legacy of narrow streets that continues to cause unique traffic problems today. San Francisco became America’s largest city west of the Mississippi River, until it lost that title to Los Angeles in 1920.” (San Francisco Gold Rush)

The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco also has a page with a 1925 article about the city’s growth from the 1820s to the Gold Rush.

Eric began writing San Francisco, but crossed it out, then he wrote another one down and crossed that one out good. His final answer was L.A. That cost him $5,400 and he finished with $1,800.

Brad got it right and doubled his score to finish with $27,400.

Christine also got it right and bet $12,801. So she finished with $1 more than Brad and she is now the new Jeopardy! champ. Congrats, Christine, great payday!

Christine was described as a retired homemaker. During the chat, the fact that her birthday (April 20) falls on the same day that Adolf Hitler was born came up She said that her son posts messages online like “we’re celebrating the birthday of both an insane cruel dictator and Hitler.” Trebek thought it was very funny and said he would do something to get even with her son.

2 years ago:: NONE of the players got this FJ in “The Grammys”

Of the more than 75 competitive categories, this one does not cite the title of any album, song or other project. show

WHAT IS BEST NEW ARTIST?

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