Final Jeopardy: U.S. Cabinet Departments (4-10-18)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (4/10/2018) in the category “U.S. Cabinet Departments” was:

This cabinet department traces its roots back to the Manhattan Project & efforts to develop the atomic bomb

It’s the 2nd quarter-final of the 2018 College Championship. Competing today: Thatcher Chonka, a Univ. of Oklahoma sophomore from Tulsa; Dhruv Gaur, a Brown Univ. freshman, from Gainesville, GA; and Jordan Goodson, a Columbia Univ. senior from McLean, VA.

Round 1 Categories: College Vocabulary – States’ Geographic Centers – Recent Movies – Weights & Measures – Pre-Rec – Hamlet

Dhruv found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Hamlet” under the $400 clue on the 16th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $5,000, $3,200 more than Thatcher in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.

Shakespeare may have gotten the names of these courtiers from 2 members of the Danish nobility. show

WHAT ARE ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN?

Dhruv finished in the lead with $10,400. Thatcher was second with $3,600 and Jordan was last with $2,200.

Round 2 Categories: Owl Nighter – Entertaining Eras – Nobel Peace Prize Winners – B.C.-ing You – Word History – AP Journalism

Dhruv found the first Daily Double in “Nobel Peace Prize” under the $800 clue on the 8th pick. He was in the lead with $12,400 now, $6,800 more than Thatcher in second place. He bet $2,800 and he was RIGHT.

These people are the “R” in UNHCR, which gives them shelter and helps them find a new permanent home. show

WHO ARE REFUGEES?

Dhruv found the last Daily Double in “B.C.-ing You” under the $2,000 clue, with 11 clues left after it. In the lead with $20,400, he had $12,800 more than Thatcher in second place. He bet $1,200 this time and he was RIGHT.

Called the “Father of History”, he wrote a long account of the Greco-Persian Wars. show

WHO IS HERODOTUS?

Dhruv finished in the lead with a runaway $22,800. Thatcher was next with $10,800 and Jordan was in third place with $6,200.

ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY?

The seed that would eventually become the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) was actually planted by Albert Einstein in an 8/2/1939 letter (that he later regretted signing) to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the imminent possibility of nuclear bombs. This led to the creation of the “Manhattan Project” in 1942, during WW2, to design and produce the first atomic bomb. In 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was created to continue the work in peacetime. According to the DOE’s history page, “The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 ended exclusive government use of the atom and began the growth of the commercial nuclear power industry, giving the AEC authority to regulate the new industry.” In the 1970s, in the wake of an oil crisis, the U.S. Government saw the need to consolidate the various commissions and agencies overseeing different sources of energy and The Department of Energy was created on August 4, 1977 under legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter.

Jordan bet $6,199. She finished with $12,399.

Thatcher bet $10,799 bringing him up to $21,599.

Dhruv bet $512, winning a semi-final spot with $23,312.

We’re sure Thatcher just won himself a Wild Card and it’s looking real good for Jordan right now, too.

A triple stumper from each round:

COLLEGE VOCABULARY ($800) In Wisconsin, it’s a yellow cheese; in Maine, it’s a 2,000-student college

ENTERTAINING ERAS ($2000) A golden era of teen movies is sometimes named for this “Breakfast Club” director

2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “The 1960s”

In 1963 he wrote to MLK seeking a United Front of “all Negro factions” against “a common problem posed by a Common Enemy.” show

WHO IS MALCOLM X?

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