Final Jeopardy: Holidays (7-20-20)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (7/20/2020) in the category “Holidays” was:

The third Monday of January starting in 1986

Today we’re watching a rerun of the first episode of Season 1 of Jeopardy, that originally aired on 9/10/1984. The contestants were: Greg Hopkins, an energy demonstrator from Waverly, OH; Lois Feinstein, a freelance copywriter originally from Plainview, NY; and Frank Selevan, an advertising copywriter originally from Miami, FL.

Round 1 Categories: Lakes & Rivers – Inventions – Animals – Foreign Cuisine – Actors & Roles – Number Please

Greg found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Lakes & Rivers” under the $300 clue on the 14th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $1,600, $1,000 more than Frank in second place. He bet $800 and he was RIGHT.

River in this famous song:

show

WHAT IS THE VOLGA?

Greg finished in the lead with $3,300. Frank was second with $700 and Lois was last with $200. 7 clues went uncovered in Round 1.

Round 2 Categories: The Bible – ’50’s TV – National Landmarks – Weights & Measures – Notorious – 4-letter Words

Lois found the first Daily Double in “4-Letter Words” under the $800 clue on the 4th pick. She was in second place with $1,400 now, $1,900 less than Greg’s lead. She bet $1,000 and she was RIGHT.

It’s the first 4-letter word in “The Star Spangled Banner” show

WHAT IS WHAT”?/spoiler]

With 6 clues left uncovered in this round, they did not get to the last Daily Double

Greg finished in the lead with a runaway $8,100. Lois was next with $3,800 and Frank was in third place with $2,500.

ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right, one way or another.

WHAT IS MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY (or BIRTHDAY)?

On November 2, 1983, then President Ronald Reagan officially made Martin Luther King Day a Federal holiday, bringing an end to a long struggle to have Dr. King’s legacy recognized on his birthday that began in 1968. Nonetheless, the first observance of the holiday did not occur until January 20, 1986, the third Monday in January that year. Dr. King was actually born on January 15th.

Some states refused to observe the holiday. Wikipedia has an article on the Passage of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a timeline on the states through 2017. UPI’s report on state boycotts says that “New Hampshire was the last state to make it a paid state holiday in 1999, and in 2000 Utah changed its Human Rights Day to Martin Luther King Day. South Carolina made the day a paid holiday for its state employees in 2000.”

Frank wrote down “Martin Luther King’s B. Day.” Alex had a hard time reading the scribbly B. Day part, but gave it to him for the MLK part. Frank bet it all and finished with $5,000.

Lois also had Martin Luther King’s Bday. Lois supplied birthday for Alex and he seemed to check if that was correct. Lois bet $3,700, bringing her up to $7,500.

Greg just wrote down “Martin Luther King” and that was accepted as well. He only bet $300. “You chicken!”, Alex exclaimed. Greg finished with $8,400 and he became the first Jeopardy! champ of the Alex Trebek era.

A triple stumper from each round:

INVENTIONS ($400) This fastener gets its name from a brand of galoshes it was used on

ANIMALS ($300) When husbands “pop” for an ermine coat, they’re actually buying this fur

More clues on Page 2

2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “French Phrases”

Paramnesia is another term for this French-named phenomenon– sound familiar? [spoiler]WHAT IS DÉJÀ VU?