Final Jeopardy: Military History (6-5-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (6/5/2026) in the category “Military History” was:
At the U.S. Naval Academy, a 19th c. memorial inscribed “Commerce laments their fall” honors heroes of this conflict
4x champ Peter McFerrin, an energy industry professional from Corona, CA, has now won $96,997. If he wins Game 5, he’s bound to go over the $100K and be a lock for the Tournament of Champions. These new challengers stand in the way of that goal: Jackie Goncalves, an art department coordinator from Brooklyn, NY; and Seth McElroy, a registered nurse from Charlottesville, VA.
Round 1 Categories: That’s Egregious! – For A Good Time Call – TV, Recently – The King is Unwell – That Shellfish – Didn’t Agree with Him
Seth found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “That’s Egregious” under the $800 with 9 clues left after it. He was in second place with $2,400, $4,000 less than Peter’s lead. Seth made it a true Daily Double and came up with the Stamp Acts. That was WRONG.
Unbearable, like the acts that in part asked for restitution for the Boston Tea Party show
Peter finished in the lead with $7,800. Jackie was in second place with $2,800. Seth was last with $400. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: You in Danger, Literary Girl – Coining Some Words – Is There A Doc-umentary in the House? – “H”odgepodge – World Cities – Back-Formations
Seth got the first Daily Double in “World Cities” under the $1,200 clue on the first pick of the round. He was in last place with $400 now, $7,400 less than Peter’s lead. Seth bet the $2,000 allowance and tried Amman. That was WRONG.
This Middle Eastern city, alphabetically first in national capitals, was once a pearl-fishing port show
Seth got the last Daily Double in “Coining Some Words” under the $2,000 on the 17th pick of the round. In last place with $3,600, he had $14,200 less than Peter’s lead. Seth bet $2,000 and said Pius. That was WRONG.
On a 1995 German coin, this man’s name appears above a big “X” & 2 images of a hand, one showing just the bones show
Peter finished in the lead with $23,000. Jackie was in second place with $9,600. Seth was last with $4,400. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT ARE THE BARBARY WARS?
The Tripoli Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy was commissioned and sculpted in Livorno, Italy to honor 6 naval officers who perished in the First Barbary War, namely: Richard Somers, James Caldwell, James Decatur, Henry Wadsworth, Joseph Israel, and John Sword Dorsey. Naval officers paid for the project (some $3,000) through subscription, ranging from $20 for Commanders to $5 for Midshipmen.
The clue only contains the last line of this inscription on the Tripoli monument: “The love of glory inspired them; fame has crowned their deeds; history records the event; the children of Columbia admire, and Commerce laments their fall.” The “Commerce” line makes sense if you remember a far more famous quote associated with the Barbary Wars: “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute”
Seth had no response. He lost $47 and finished with $4,353.
Jackie wrote down “Literally, idk ken”. She lost $600 and finished with $9,000.
Peter had the War of 1812. He lost $3,799 but won the game with the remaining $19,201. Peter’s 5-day total is $116,198 and he’s on his way to the Tournament of Champions, whether he wins or loses next week.
A triple stumper from each round:
THAT SHELLFISH ($600) Angels on Horseback is a classic recipe featuring these shellfish wrapped in bacon & broiled
COINING SOME WORDS The name of ($800) this institution that issues British paper money was on a 1994 2-pound coin marking its 300th anniversary
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “WORLD LEADERS”
During a 1972 presidential visit, Richard Nixon discussed a poem by this leader called “Ode to the Plum Blossom” show
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Well, this was hardly a competitive game, but it certainly was a challenging one (at least for us). Regarding the FJ, all that we could come up with was the Civil War. Yeah, we sort have figured that this response would be dead on arrival. Anyways, I would have hardly described the conflict with the Barbary Pirates as a war, but rather as a little squirmish at sea.
Pete in the seat was just too dominant, but props to Jackie in her valiant attempt to be relevant. Poor Seth crashed on the DDs. I knew only the first one, and said War of 1812 for Final. I did poorly overall today. Pete may be from Corona, CA, but his accent tells me he’s from the Deep South. He’s terribly smart.
I asked my daughter about that first DD. I was saying Peter must have been wishing he got that one and asked her, don’t they teach that in history anymore? She said they learned it in middle school but it’s been a long time. 🤣 That wouldn’t even be 20 years for her. I learned it something like 60 years ago. She said, yeah, but you love history.
P.S. I am 25 years older than my oldest kid, but I am 42 years older than Nikki.
Similarly, I was just turning 27 when #1 was born and 41 when #5 hatched. Wife was 3 years older.
@Howard, it’s fun in some ways, though. People would ask my daughter-in-law if she was Nikki’s aunt, and she’d have to say, no, she’s my sister-in-law.
OK, this time, there is no doubt – Ken ABSOLUTELY mangled “Kalakaua”. He said “Kuh-LOCK-kah-wah”. Say that on Kalakaua Avenue in Honolulu (in Waikiki), and you get punched in the mouth. It is MUCH more simple to say (as is much of the Hawai’ian language – lyric and sonorous) – “Kah-lah-cow-ah” No emphasis on any syllables.
I am not sure if they would have given me FJ – I said “Barbary Pirates”. That’s where a celebrated Marine, Presley O’Bannon, served. Although acclaimed in the USMC, he was only in the Marine Corps for about 6 years. He was given the first Mameluke sword, and, due to his achievements, this sword became the official sword of USMC officers to this day (with a brief period 1859-1875 where another sword was mandated).
Hi, Jason! I don’t think Ken could have okayed Barbary Pirates because of the word “conflict” in the clue. I think that indicates that the response had to include words like “war” or “battle”
I’m surprised Ken didn”t look up Kalakaua. I’m sure he looks up a lot of stuff but he’s still bound to mess up here and there, like that time with Medvedev. I still remember this one time with Alex Trebek, introducing a contestant from Parsippany, NJ, with the emphasis on PAN. 🤣
P.S. Not that I think I never say words wrong — if you brought this topic up in front of my kids, they would make me say robot.
Personally, I would have given you at least a half point for the FJ response Jason.
Half right is half wrong which is all wrong!! Haha
Not a great week for Final but a great week for Peter who swept this week. Darn those daily doubles to Seth. He became the first player since Marissa to miss all three daily doubles.