Ken Jennings is an American game show host, author, and former contestant, most notably recognized for his remarkable winning streak on Jeopardy!. Born in Edmonds, Washington, he spent much of his childhood abroad in South Korea and Singapore. Prior to his Jeopardy! fame, he worked as a computer programmer. In 2004, Jennings achieved widespread recognition with his unprecedented 74-game winning streak on Jeopardy!, setting a record for the highest earnings by an American game show contestant and significantly boosting the show's popularity.
On May 23, 1974, Kenneth Wayne Jennings III was born in Edmonds, Washington.
In 1996, Ken Jennings transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU).
In 2000, Ken Jennings graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) with a double major in English and computer science.
In 2003, Ken Jennings took the contestant exam for Jeopardy!
In January 2004, Tom Walsh set a record winning streak on Jeopardy!, winning $186,900 in eight games.
On June 2, 2004, Ken Jennings's run on Jeopardy! began, unseating two-time returning champion Jerry Harvey.
The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions aired from September 20, 2004, through October 1, 2004.
The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions aired from September 20, 2004, through October 1, 2004.
On Tuesday, November 2, 2004, no first-run Jeopardy! episode was scheduled due to the 2004 United States presidential election.
The Jeopardy! College Championship aired from November 10, 2004, to November 23, 2004.
The Jeopardy! College Championship aired from November 10, 2004, to November 23, 2004.
On November 30, 2004, Ken Jennings lost his 75th Jeopardy! game to Nancy Zerg after incorrectly answering the Final Jeopardy! question about H&R Block, ending his reign as champion.
On December 1, 2004, Ken Jennings made a guest appearance on Jeopardy!, where Alex Trebek acknowledged his success and broken records.
In 2004, Ken Jennings tried out for Jeopardy! after working as a computer programmer.
In 2004, Ken Jennings's 74-game Jeopardy! winning streak ended after being defeated by Nancy Zerg in his 75th appearance.
In 2004, Ken Jennings's Jeopardy! run brought him widespread attention, leading to appearances on shows like The Tonight Show, Sesame Street and an offer of free tax services from H&R Block.
In November 2005, Ken Jennings' column "Six Degrees of Ken Jennings" debuted in Mental Floss magazine.
In 2005, Ken Jennings participated in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, finishing second to Brad Rutter and winning $500,000.
In 2005, Ken Jennings was slated to host a new game show for Comedy Central, produced by Michael Davies, but the project stalled in development.
In 2005, Ken Jennings won a $500,000 second-place prize in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions.
In 2005, following his Jeopardy! success, Ken Jennings signed with the United Talent Agency and engaged in several endorsement deals, including deals with Microsoft and Cingular Wireless.
Ken Jennings's losing episode was featured on the 2005 DVD release of Jeopardy!: An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show.
On July 4, 2006, Ken Jennings launched his trivia newsletter, Trivia Tuesday, sending out an email containing seven questions every Tuesday.
As of mid-2006, Ken Jennings was still shopping a potential game show titled Ken Jennings vs. the Rest of the World.
In 2006, Ken Jennings continued his endorsements, including a deal with Microsoft to promote its Encarta encyclopedia software and appearing in commercials for Cingular Wireless. He also had speaking deals through American Program Bureau and was featured in the board game Can You Beat Ken? by University Games.
In 2006, Ken Jennings served as a moderator at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) High School National Championship Tournament in Chicago, reading literature and mythology questions.
In 2006, Ken Jennings taped a pilot for Million Dollar Pyramid and was a contestant on other game shows including Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and 1 vs. 100.
In 2006, Ken Jennings won the rookie division of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
In 2006, Ken Jennings' book, Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs, was published. It details his experiences on Jeopardy! and his research into trivia culture.
In December 2007, Marion Jones was stripped of her medals after Ken Jennings' initial Jeopardy! episode accepted her last name as the correct response.
During the 2007-2008 strike, Jeopardy! used a mix of recycled material and newly-written questions made before the strike, similar to the approach used in 2023.
In 2007, Ken Jennings appeared as a contestant on the game show Grand Slam.
In October 2008, Ken Jennings appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, contributing to his record for the highest American game show winnings at the time.
In 2008, Ken Jennings appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. He also competed on Stump the Master from 2008-09.
In 2009, Ken Jennings served as a moderator at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) High School National Championship Tournament in Chicago, reading literature and mythology questions.
In October 2010, Ken Jennings' column "Six Degrees of Ken Jennings" ended its run in Mental Floss magazine.
In 2011, Ken Jennings participated in Jeopardy!'s "IBM Challenge" against Watson and Brad Rutter, finishing second to Watson and winning $300,000 for charity.
In 2011, Ken Jennings recalled how in 2004, Democratic politicians unsuccessfully asked him to run for the United States Senate from Utah.
In 2011, Ken Jennings won a $300,000 second-place prize in Jeopardy!'s IBM Challenge, losing to the Watson computer but defeating Brad Rutter.
In 2019, Ken Jennings chose 2012 Jeopardy! College Champion Monica Thieu to complete his three-person "Team Ken." team
In 2014, Ken Jennings appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire during Guinness World Records Edition themed week, where he won $100,000.
In 2014, Ken Jennings participated in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades tournament, placing second and winning a $100,000 prize.
In 2014, Ken Jennings won a $100,000 second-place prize in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades.
In March 2015, Parade magazine ceased the Kennections quiz and removed links to archived quizzes.
In 2019, Ken Jennings chose 2015 Tournament of Champions runner-up Matt Jackson to complete his three-person "Team Ken." team
In 2016, Ken Jennings appeared as a contestant on the game show 500 Questions.
On September 7, 2017, HowStuffWorks unveiled a new show entitled Omnibus, co-hosted by Jennings and John Roderick.
In 2017, Ken Jennings appeared as a contestant on @midnight.
As of March 2018, Ken Jennings was an active member of the trivia app FleetWit, regularly playing in live trivia races, answering an average of 89% of questions correctly, and winning over $2,000.
In 2018, Ken Jennings published Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture, which analyzes the impact of comedy on mainstream pop culture and everyday life.
In 2019, Ken Jennings captained "Team Ken" in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games, finishing second and winning $100,000.
In 2019, Ken Jennings was one of eight recurring Trivia Experts for Best Ever Trivia Show.
In 2019, Ken Jennings won a $100,000 second-place prize (his share of his team's $300,000 prize) in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games.
In January 2020, Ken Jennings won the Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time tournament against Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer, winning $1,000,000 and the "Greatest of All Time" title.
On March 3, 2020, the Washington State Legislature approved Senate Resolution 8704, congratulating Ken Jennings for his achievements on game shows.
In May 2020, Ken Jennings' last active season with LearnedLeague was LL85. He played in the A Rundle of the Laguna league and finished the season in 5th place.
In September 2020, Ken Jennings signed on as a consulting producer of Jeopardy! for the show's 37th season. His responsibilities included reading on-air categories.
On October 29, 2020, Alex Trebek taped his final episode of Jeopardy! after being diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer the previous year.
On November 8, 2020, Alex Trebek passed away from cancer. Rehearsals for the next Jeopardy! taping, scheduled for November 9-10, were cancelled.
In November 2020, Ken Jennings was announced as one of the chasers on the ABC revival of The Chase.
In November 2020, Ken Jennings was announced as the first in a series of guest hosts for Jeopardy! following the death of Alex Trebek.
In 2020, Ken Jennings returned to Jeopardy! as a producer and later guest-hosted the program after the death of Alex Trebek.
In 2020, Ken Jennings was awarded the first-place prize in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time.
In 2020, Ken Jennings was one of the six trivia experts on Best Ever's successor, Master Minds.
In 2020, Ken Jennings won a $1,000,000 first-place prize in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time.
On February 19, 2021, Ken Jennings' episodes as the first in a series of guest hosts of Jeopardy! ended. He had been hosting since January 11, 2021.
On November 16, 2021, Ken Jennings discontinued his Trivia Tuesday newsletter after 800 quizzes due to increasing commitments and a lack of material for the seventh question.
In 2021, Ken Jennings guest hosted the daily syndicated program Jeopardy!, alternating with actress Mayim Bialik.
As of 2022, Ken Jennings primarily resides in Seattle, flying to Los Angeles twice a month for Jeopardy! taping sessions.
On May 8, 2023, the Jeopardy! Masters series, hosted by Ken Jennings, premiered on ABC. The primetime tournament featured notable Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.
On May 11, 2023, Mayim Bialik withdrew from Jeopardy! due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, leaving Ken Jennings to host the last 20 episodes of season 39.
In May 2023, Ken Jennings competed on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, winning $72,800 for the Equal Justice Initiative.
In May 2023, Mayim Bialik refused to participate in the final week of filming Jeopardy! due to the Writers Guild of America strike. Ken Jennings hosted in her place.
In 2023, Ken Jennings was made the sole host of Jeopardy!, after initially splitting hosting duties with Mayim Bialik.
In 2023, Ken Jennings's entire Jeopardy! run became available for streaming on Pluto TV.
On March 25, 2025, David Genat broke Ken Jennings' record for the highest-earning American game show contestant, winning $5,800,000 on Deal or No Deal Island.
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