The popular game show “Jeopardy!” originated in 1964, and for six decades it has stumped contestants and viewers with tough trivia questions and answers (or answers and questions, to be more accurate). Competing on “Jeopardy!” is practically synonymous with being a smartypants, and champions win lifelong bragging rights along with whatever monetary winnings they take home. To win “Jeopardy!,” you place a wager in the Final Jeopardy round with whatever money you’ve collected through the first two rounds. All three contestants write down their wagers based solely on the category given, then they have 30 seconds to write down the question for the same answer after it’s revealed. Very rarely do all three contestants get the Final Jeopardy wrong. But in 1984, on Alex Trebek’s second day hosting the show, a deceptively simple Final Jeopardy answer resulted in all three contestants making the same wrong guess and ending the round with $0 each. The category was “The Calendar,” and after the contestants placed their bets, the answer was revealed: “Calendar date with which the 20th century began.” The 20th century was the 1900s, as most of us are aware, and all three contestants wrote down identical responses: “What is January 1, 1900?” But they were all incorrect. And unfortunately, all three had wagered their entire amount, leaving them with nothing across the board. “Oh, I don’t believe it!” exclaimed one of the contestants as they all laughed at the absurdity. “I’m at a loss for words,” said Trebek. A member of the audience asked what the correct answer–or question— was, and Trebek shared that the correct response would have been “What is January 1, 1901?” If that seems confusing, it’s probably because we all made a huge deal about the year 2000, marking it as the end of the 20th century as well as the turn of the millennium. But basically, we were wrong. Some people did point it out at the time, but the excitement and momentum of celebrating Y2K had us all in a frenzy and no one was going to wait until January 1, 2001 to celebrate the new millennium. “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek at the 2016 USO Gala. Credit: Jim Greenhill/Wikimedia Commons   Why should we have? It all comes down to the fact that in the Gregorian calendar, the first year wasn’t 0 A.D., it was 1 A.D. The first century spanned from 1 to 100 A.D., the second century from 101 to 200 A.D. and so on, leading up to the 20th century officially being from 1901 to 2000. So January 1, 1901 is actually the date that the 20th century began, despite how unintuitive it feels. To be fair, you’d think a “Jeopardy!” contestant might recognize that the question seemed awfully simple for a Final Jeopardy round, but only having 30 seconds to think under pressure is tough. And it’s not like these people lived in the internet era where random trivia questions like this regularly go viral, making us more aware of them. And this episode aired over a decade before the “Seinfeld” episode where Jerry explains the “no year zero” thing to Newman, who had planned a millennium party. As one person pointed out, the calendar answer is technically correct, but it’s not the way the average person thinks of centuries, just as a tomato is technically fruit but the average person thinks of it (and uses it) as a vegetable. Even though there were some sticklers about the year 2000, most of us just went along with seeing it as the turn of the millennium because it felt like that’s how it should be. It’s kind of wild how most of us can think of something incorrectly but we just sort of collectively accept our wrongness about it. The 1984 episode, making a viral comeback, also prompted people to share how much they missed Alex Trebek. The beloved, long-time “Jeopardy!” host died in 2020 at age 80 after an 18-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He worked up until the point where he couldn’t anymore, even while undergoing chemotherapy. His final episode included a touching tribute honoring his 37 seasons with the game show, the end of an illustrious and iconic era. Ken Jennings, former “Jeopardy!” champion with the record for the longest winning streak, has been the sole host of the show since late 2023, after previously sharing hosting duties with Mayim Bialik. This article originally appeared last year.The post One seemingly simple question stumped all three Final Jeopardy contestants in 1984 appeared first on Upworthy.

When it comes to actors doing accents across the pond, some Americans are known for their great British accents, such as Natalie Portman (“The Other Boleyn Girl”), Robert Downey, Jr. (“Sherlock Holmes”), and Meryl Streep (“The Iron Lady”). Some have taken a lot of heat for their cartoonish or just plain weird-sounding British accents, Dick Van Dyke (“Mary Poppins”), Kevin Costner (“Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”) and Keanu Reeves (“Bram Stoker’s Dracula”). Some actors, such as Tom Hardy (“The Drop”) and Hugh Laurie (“House”), have American accents so good that people have no idea they are British. Benedict Townsend, a London-based comedian and host of the “Scroll Deep” podcast, says there is one word that American actors playing characters with a British accent never get right. And no, it’s not the word “Schedule,” which British people pronounce the entire first 3 letters, and Americans boil down to 2. And it’s not “aluminum,” which British and American people seem to pronounce every stinking letter differently.   @benedicttown The one word American actors aways get wrong when doing an English accent ♬ original sound – Benedict Townsend What word do American actors always get wrong when they do British accents? “There is one word that is a dead giveaway that an English character in a movie or a TV show is being played by an American. One word that always trips them up. And once you notice it, you can’t stop noticing it,” Townsend says. “You would see this lot in ‘Game of Thrones’ and the word that would always trip them up was ‘daughter.’” Townsend adds that when British people say “daughter,” they pronounce it like the word “door” or “door-tah.” Meanwhile, Americans, even when they are putting on a British accent, say it like “dah-ter.” “So, top tip if you are an actor trying to do an English accent, daughter like a door. Like you’re opening a door,” Townsend says. Townsend later confirmed in a follow-up video that he and his wife identified the American actor in Netflix’s “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” within moments of hearing her speak. He also noted in an interview that “America” itself may be one of the hardest words for non-Americans to pull off convincingly in an American accent — which adds a pleasing layer of irony to the whole thing. As it turns out, the problem runs both ways. Daniel Radcliffe explains why he chooses to maintain his American accent the entire time he's in the theater for #MerrilyWeRollAlong while chatting at the #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/dFs2SBlsSQ— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 16, 2024 Some American commenters returned the favor by sharing the word that British actors never get right when using American accents: “Anything.” “I can always tell a Brit playing an American by the word anything. An American would say en-ee-thing. Brits say it ena-thing,” Dreaming_of_Gaea wrote. “The dead giveaway for English people playing Americans: ‘Anything.’ Brits always say ‘EH-nuh-thin,’” marliemagill added. “I can always tell an actor is English playing an American when they say ‘anything.’ English people always say it like ‘enny-thin,’” mkmason wrote. What is the cot-caught merger? One commenter noted that the problem goes back to the cot-caught merger, when Americans in the western US and Canadians began to merge different sounds into one. People on the East Coast and in Britain pronounce them as different sounds. “Depending on where you live, you might be thinking one of two things right now: Of course, ‘cot’ and ‘caught’ sound exactly the same! or “There’s no way that ‘cot’ and ‘caught’ sound the same!” Laura McGrath writes at DoYouReadMe. “As a result, although the different spellings remain, the vowel sounds in the words cot/caught, nod/gnawed, stock/stalk are identical for some English speakers and not for others.” For example, a person from New Jersey would pronounce cot and catch it as “caht” and “cawt,” while someone from Los Angeles may pronounce them as “caht” and “caht.” To get a better idea of the big difference in how “caught” and “cot” are pronounced in the U.S., you can take a look at the educational video below, produced for a college course on linguistics. American actors owe Townsend a debt of gratitude for pointing out the one thing that even the best can’t seem to get right. For some actors, it could mean the difference between a great performance and one that has people scratching their heads. He should also give the commenters a tip of the cap for sharing the big word that British people have trouble with when doing an American accent. Now, if we could just get through to Ewan McGregor and tell him that even though he is fantastic in so many films, his American accent still needs a lot of work. This article originally appeared last year.The post Brit shares the one-word ‘dead giveaway’ that American actors can’t do in an English accent appeared first on Upworthy.

Even on the easiest days, parenting poses challenges. We do our best to be patient and loving with our kids, but that’s not always easy. Lucas Valerio is a father whose demeanor and patience with his young son are not only admirable but also the kind of parenting we should all try to embrace. Lucas’ young son was born without limbs, which presents tremendous daily challenges. Lucas helps his son to understand his body and make it work for him. Even though the little guy cries and feels frustrated, his dad’s encouragement and kindness help him work through the difficult times. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lucas Valerio (@casluvalerio) Lucas Valerio and His Son Have an Amazing Relationship Lucas Valerio recently went viral for soothing his son when he became frustrated while trying to feed himself. Instead of getting angry, Lucas spoke sweetly to his baby boy and encouraged him to try again. By the end of the short clip, the child’s tears dried, and he smiled as he fed himself with a spoon. It’s the kind of video that makes you cheer for not just the child, but the father as well. Millions watched Lucas Valerio interact with his son, and they loved what they saw. “Beautiful baby! A fighter through and through! Already such strong determination,” someone wrote. “The way he even offered to his fathe cutest & strongest little one, god bless,” another person pointed out. “Just came across this video. Don’t cry baby boy you don’t even know it but you’re stronger than most. Keep going we’re all rooting for you. Dad you’re doing amazing,” someone cheered. Professionals commented on Lucas Valerio’s commitment as a dad. “Folks, this dad is AMAZING!!!! as a family lawyer I see so many parents abandoning their children… then I remember that there are others like this father that’s why I’ve never stopped advocating for men, as well as advocating for women! There are some great dads out there!!!” An attorney wrote. We love this for Lucas and his son. What a great duo they are! This story’s featured image can be found here.

Two San Francisco area teens are providing a valuable service for low-income families in their community by collecting and redistributing donated school uniforms. The brothers’ work also keeps the clothes out of landfills, where they break down over hundreds of years while releasing methane, a potent, yet short-lived greenhouse gas. Anyone who’s had to shop […] The post Intrepid Teens Channel Donations of Old School Uniforms to 1,400 Families, Saving Them $140K appeared first on Good News Network.

Not exactly news, but a beautiful story comes now from the sandy shores of Tasmania, where 25 years ago, the waves brought a life-long friend to resident Diane Charles. Rising early, she tells ABC News AU, was her habit back then—to enjoy the peace of the sea and salute other early risers. One such morning […] The post Message in a Bottle Discovery on Tasmanian Beach Leads to 25-year Intercontinental Friendship appeared first on Good News Network.