Kid on ‘Jeopardy’ sets record with $66,000 win

Last night, 7th grader Skyler Hornback went into Final Jeopardy with $36,000, he was well ahead of his competitors, nobody could catch him. But that didn’t stop Hornback from rolling the dice, betting $30,000 on his knowledge of the Civil War. It paid off when this answer came up.

NBC

The question of course is the Emancipation Proclamation and Skyler walked away with $66,000. He’s now the coolest 7th grader in Kentucky.

His celebration deserves its own GIF.

Skyler’s happiness aside, we need to discuss something else that happened. Something that was pretty much the worst thing ever.

Thomas Hurley of Newtown, Connecticut (yea, that Newtown) was penalized for spelling Emancipation Proclamation wrong. He added an extra ‘p.’ Spelling mistakes are made often in Final Jeopardy. Half the time you can’t make out the chicken scratches from competitors. But the judges decided to drop the hammer on young Thomas. They’re horrible people.

Here’s the exact moment he found out.

Well, that’s sad. Way to ruin a kid’s life Jeopardy.