In 1984, one 'simple' Jeopardy! question stumped all three contestants — and viewers are still squabbling over the 'right' answer

An episode of the famous show "Jeopardy!" in 1984 witnessed something very unusual. The game show, which is in its 42nd season, requires participants to answer tricky questions (or, more precisely, guess the question from the given answers) for money. In the final round, called "Final Jeopardy," participants, however, have to gamble some or all of their money on one last question. While it's rare for all three players to lose together, a particular question over four decades ago left players confused, and they ended the game empty-handed. You can watch the clip posted on X by Restricted Daily (@restricteddaily) on March 28.

It was only Alex Trebek's second day as the host, but he unknowingly triggered a debate that people are still discussing even forty-two years later. As part of the Final Jeopardy round, Trebek revealed the last answer for the episode: "Calendar date with which the 20th century began." Soon after dropping the question, he allowed a few minutes for the participants to write down their response.

Surprisingly, all three participants had given identical replies: "What is January 1, 1900?" Unfortunately, the three players with $1,100, $5,000, and $9,500 in earnings had put in all of their money and hence ended up losing it in the final round. "Oh, I don’t believe it. I'm at a loss for words," Trebek gasped, as everyone, including the audience, laughed at the unreal moment. In the end, someone from the crowd asked him to reveal the correct response, and Trebek immediately responded, "What is January 1, 1901?" It's been years since Jeopardy!'s episode was aired, but the debate about the calendar dates is still ongoing. 

Turns out, the contestants were not the only ones confused about the beginning of the new millennium. A 1999 Gallup poll found that Americans are split on whether the new millennium began on January 1, 2000, or January 1, 2001. While almost half (49%) of respondents said it officially began in 2000, 45% argued that the new millennium began a year later. Moreover, when asked which year deserves a bigger celebration, 68% of respondents mentioned celebrating the transition from 1999 to 2000. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the Jeopardy question. @musingsinsilico commented, "If Jeopardy is correct here, the whole western world was celebrating the turn of the millennium at the wrong time — it would not have been the night of December 31st, 1999." @mfbenson1 argued, "There is no year zero — the first century was 1 to 100, making the second century start in 101. This has carried on 19 more times, with the 21st century starting in 2001." Similarly, @mickburkhardt said, "Exactly. The same runs true if you were born, say, in 2000 and you celebrate your birthday in 2025. In actuality, you’re 24 going on 25, because you spend the first year of life at 0, aging to 1."

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