Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ken Jennings won 74 consecutive games on Jeopardy! during his original run in 2004, the longest winning streak in the show's American history. His run spanned 75 appearances across 182 calendar days, ending when challenger Nancy Zerg defeated him on the episode that aired on the 30th of November, 2004.
Jennings won $4,522,700 on Jeopardy! across his original run and five subsequent tournaments. His original 74-game streak earned him $2,520,700, and he added to that total through second-place finishes in multiple tournaments and a $1,000,000 first-place win in the 2020 Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time tournament.
The category was Business and Industry, and the clue asked about a firm whose 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year. The correct answer was H&R Block. Jennings wrote FedEx and lost to Nancy Zerg, who wagered $4,401 and finished with a $1 lead before his response was revealed.
Jennings became the permanent sole host of Jeopardy! starting with season 40 in late 2023. He had previously split hosting duties with Mayim Bialik beginning with season 39, and became the sole host after Bialik withdrew on the 11th of May, 2023, citing the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.
Jennings finished second in the 2011 IBM Challenge, winning $24,000 while Watson earned $1,000,000 for charity and Brad Rutter came third with $21,600. The two matches were played over three days and marked the first man-versus-machine competition in the show's history.
Before appearing on Jeopardy!, Jennings worked as a software engineer for CHG Healthcare Services, a healthcare placement firm in Holladay, Utah. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 2000 with a double major in English and computer science, and had previously lived in South Korea and Singapore for eleven years as a child.