Final Jeopardy: The 1950s (4-23-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (4/23/2026) in the category “The 1950s” was:
The announcement declaring this safe & effective was made April 12, 1955, the 10th anniversary of the death of a famous American
29x champ Jamie Ding, a bureaucrat & law student from Lawrenceville, NJ, has now won $793,602. With a win today, he’ll go over the $800K mark. His opponents are: Leighanna Mixter, an attorney orig. from Fresno, CA; and Patrick Nolan, an actuary from Wheaton, IL.
Round 1 Categories: Big 12 Schools – Science – America, 1750-1800 – Recent Hitmakers – Hobbies & Pastimes – Words for the Young
Jamie found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “America, 1750-1800” under the $800 clue on the first pick. Nobody was on the board. Jamie bet the $1,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.
In 1789 Gov. George Clinton named as New York’s Attorney General this man who 15 years later could have used an attorney himself show
Jamie finished in the lead with $7,600. Patrick was in second place with $6,400. Leighanna was last with $200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: American Lit – Celebrity Chefs – Art for Art’s Sake – Word Origins – Teeny Tiny Countries – I Have A Lot of Grey Friends
Patrick found the first Daily Double in “Teeny Tiny Countries” under the $1,200 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $11,600 now, $200 more than Jamie in second place. Patrick boldly bet it all and he was RIGHT.
Borgo Maggiore & Serravalle are towns in this landlocked nation that bears the name of a 4th century holy man show
Jamie got the last Daily Double in “Art for Art’s Sake” under the $2,000 clue on the 13th pick of the round. In second place with $13,200, he had $11,600 less than Patrick’s lead. Jamie made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
The Glasshouse in Seattle is a one-of-a-kind structure holding a 100-foot sculpture by this artist show
Jamie finished in the lead with $30,800. Patrick was hot on his heels with $28,000. Leighanna was last with $5,400. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS THE POLIO VACCINE?
On 4/12/1955, Dr. Thomas Francis delivered his verdict on the polio vaccine developed by his former student, Dr. Jonas Salk: “The vaccine works. It is safe, effective, and potent.” It was also the 10th anniversary of the passing of FDR, who served as U.S. President from 1933 until he died on 4/12/1945. The vaccine was too late to save FDR from partial paralysis. Many newspapers noted that “The meeting falls on the 10th anniversary of the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a polio victim who founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.”
In “The Day Polio Began Losing Its Grip on America,” Dr. Howard Markel reveals how Salk managed to piss off his mentor at the meeting, and there’s a photo of Elvis Presley being vaccinated.
Leighanna got it right, after crossing out nuclear power. She bet $5,000 and finished with $10,400.
Patrick went with penicillin. He lost $10,000 and finished with $18,000.
Jamie got it right, too. He bet $25,201 and won the game with $56,001. Whew! That level of competition worked out well for Jamie’s bank account. This was his biggest single-day payout so far. Jamie’s 30-day total is $849,603.
A triple stumper from each round:
HOBBIES & PASTIMES ($400) If you take up ballroom dancing, you are likely to learn this one said to be named for a guy, not a canine
AMERICAN LIT ($1600) Pennsylvanian Owen Wister’s best-known novel isn’t “The Pennsylvanian” but this one about a Southerner out West
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “STATUES”
The 42-foot-high statue of Athena in this state capital is the tallest indoor statue in the United States show
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Well, Jamie emerged from the game as the the reigning champion. Great! As for Patrick, I have no idea of what he was thinking, but “penicillin” wouldn’t have left home plate.. Another big question was why he didn’t go for broke in FJ? In any case, I didn’t do all that well in the game, but the FJ was rather obvious.
Question for the experts: the final question/answer…the answer was “polio vaccine,” but could “polio shot” be a correct answer? Thank you for any possible help on this.
I’m no expert, but I don’t see any reason why “polio shot” wouldn’t be accepted. “Shot” is used in lieu of “vaccine” all the time, even by doctors. (Mine recently asked me if I got my flu shot)
FINALLY a competitive match we can talk about. Late start here due to NFL draft. Leighanna never had a chance but at least finished on a strong note. Patrick’s all-in DD wager was shocking but he almost had to do it. Unfortunately he did not get to answer the 3rd DD. I thought all 3 DDs were easy for once, at least until I said Chiluly for the last. Maybe because of my age, but I thought Final was a cinch and that they’d all get it. (Mom told me long ago that everyone cried when FDR passed in 1945.
Some of the stumpers were very knowable. The ballroom dance/canine name; the Waco university; the two-step state. But I got only one of the Words for the Young.
I’ll guess you got the tadpole synonym. Howard. I got that one, the skinny female and the smart whippersnapper.
I got the Wister book title right away. James Drury played the title role in the TV adaptation and Doug McClure was Trampas.
I never watched any Westerns. Might have seen Bonanza once or twice. I’d have guessed Lee J Cobb was in the title role, but evidently he was not. The skinny female was the only one that quickly came to mind. As we both know, youth is wasted on the young.
That show ran for 9 seasons and Lee J. Cobb was only in the first 4. Drury and McClure were the only ones in all 9 seasons.
With 28,000, Patrick surpasses Tom Devlin’s record of 27,200 as the highest non-leading score entering Final Jeopardy! This was one of the best games played that we seen this season. Patrick has to be 100 percent a shoo-in for Second Chance next season because he made Jamie sweat for it.
I think whoever failed to dethrone Jamie, but had high scores, regardless of FJ performance, would be eligible for the Second Chance