Final Jeopardy: American Firsts (6-2-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (6/2/2020) in the category “American Firsts” was:
John Ledyard, sailing on Captain Cook’s last voyage in search of the NW Passage, was the 1st American to land at what are now these 2 states
It’s the second semi-final match of the 2020 Teachers Tournament. Competing today: Meggie Kwait, a middle school humanities teacher from New York, NY; Amanda Baltimore, a 7th grade science teacher from Cocoa Beach, FL; and Jenna Hall, a high school English Teacher from Seaside, CA.
Round 1 Categories: Hall Monitor – Heaven or Hell – Birds of Prey – Words From Old English – Going on Vacation? – I’m Full of “N.V.”
Meggie found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Heaven or Hell” under the $800 clue on the 11th pick of the round. She was in the lead with $3,000, $1,800 more than Amanda in second place. She made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT, much to her surprise!
The line “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” is from this 17th century poem. show
Meggie finished in the lead with $11,000. Amanda was second with $2,000 and Jenna was last with $1,000.
Round 2 Categories: Women Authors – Greatest Hits of the Supremes – The Human Body – Documentaries – The Old University Try – Before & After
Jenna found the first Daily Double in “Supremes” under the $1,200 clue, with 5 clues to go after it. She was in second place with $5,800 now, $18,400 less than Meggie’s lead. She bet $2,000 and guessed Taft. That was WRONG.
In Marbury v. Madison, John Marshall criticized this sitting President for flouting the law. show
Meggie got the last Daily Double in “Documentaries” under the $2,000 clue. After it, there was only one $2,000 clue in the “Supremes” category. In the lead with $27,400, she had $22,600 more than Amanda in second place. She bet $5,000 and responded with “Love & Basketball.” That was WRONG.
This 1994 documentary follows 2 inner-city Chicago kids who aspire to become pro basketball players. show
Meggie finished in the lead with a runaway $24,400. Amanda was next with $4,800 and Jenna was in third place with $3,800.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT ARE ALASKA & HAWAII?
The Connecticut History website has a biography of John Ledyard, “Connecticut’s Most Famous Traveler”. In the section pertinent to today’s clue, it relates how Ledyard was on board the Resolution during Captain Cook’s 3rd voyage. At the time, Ledyard was serving in the British Navy. (Their account says he enlisted; Wikipedia’s says he was forced into service). Whatever, the ship explored the Alaskan coastline in search of the Northwest Passage and made several stops in the Hawaiian Islands (then the Sandwich Islands), where Captain Cook lost his life.
Wikipedia’s article mentions Ledyard as “perhaps the first U.S. citizen to touch [North America’s] western coast, along the Aleutian islands and Alaska into the Bering Sea”. The Connecticut History article does not, but it does says “Ledyard was believed to be the first Euro-American to be tattooed” in the South Pacific.
Jenna got it right. She bet it all and doubled her score to $7,600.
Amanda got it, too. She added $2,222 to finish with $7,022.
Meggie wrote down California & Oregon, earning a boo hiss from Alex. She only bet $18, so she won the game with $24,382. It was a foregone conclusion that Meggie Kwait is the second finalist.
2 triple stumpers from each WOMEN AUTHORS:
WOMEN AUTHORS ($1200) In 1856 she published “Dred”, in which she depicted the deterioration of a slave-holding society
($2000) This Danish writer acquired her title by marrying her cousin Bror von Blixen-Finecke, a Swedish baron
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “Fictional Characters”
He got a real N.Y. Times obit in 1975; it said he wore “false mustaches to mask signs of age that offended his vanity” show
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Well meggie played well despite not getting that daily double about basketball. But still I want to congratulate jenna and Amanda on getting final right. They couldn’t catch up to meggie today.
Ledyard is a beautiful town in Connecticut and I would love to visit it soon. Speaking of that VJ, wouldn’t you like to visit Connecticut.as well? They have a lot of beautiful gardens and museums to visit. I know for a fact John didn’t.head to California on his voyage.
I thought Meggie knew the right answer.