2017 Current Events Study Guide

[Blue Lion]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., will retire at the end of the 2017 NASCAR season. Earnhardt, Jr., won the Daytona 500 twice (his father was killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500). He was named Most Popular Driver 14 times.

Director Jonathan Demme has died at the age of 73. He is best known for The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director; and for Philadelphia.

Author/philosopher Robert Pirsig has died at the age 88. He is best known for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (1974).

[MarkBarrett]

ABC's revival of The Gong Show debuting in June will be hosted by Tommy Maitland who is really Mike Myers in disguise.

[MarkBarrett]

Ryan Seacrest is the new permanent co-host on Live with Kelly.

[9021amyers]

Ryan Seacrest is the new permanent co-host on Live with Kelly.

Jeez! When does this guy find the time to go to the bathroom?

[dhkendall]

Ryan Seacrest is the new permanent co-host on Live with Kelly.

Jeez! When does this guy find the time to go to the bathroom?

That's on Tonight From the Bathroom with Seacrest, channel 86.

[Volante]

Ryan Seacrest is the new permanent co-host on Live with Kelly.

Jeez! When does this guy find the time to go to the bathroom?

That's on Tonight From the Bathroom with Seacrest, channel 86.

I would like to extend my apologies...I listened to Seacrest when he was a DJ back on Star 98.7 (late 90s, long before I found my current station). I can't help but feeling partially responsible for subjecting him on the rest of the world.

[Blue Lion]

Puerto Rico has filed for bankruptcy. It is the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The island's 11.5% sales tax was the subject of a Jeopardy question earlier this season.

Side note: I live near Detroit, which recently went through a Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Puerto Rico's bankruptcy isn't a Chapter 9 proceeding per se but a similar proceeding created by an act of Congress. Puerto Rico's finances are now under the control of a board created by Congress. The board is similar to Detroit's Emergency Manager, who was appointed by the governor and whose powers outranked those of the mayor and council.

[MarkBarrett]

Sue Grafton's next alphabet book will be "Y" is for... and as far as I can determine that is the final title and not a placeholder for the rest to be filled in later. Is there nothing in that genre that would be fit for the letter Y? How are the J! writers supposed to make a clue out of that?

Updating my post from March: The book will be out in August and it does have a proper title, "Y" is for Yesterday

It won't have enough lasting power for J! purposes: McDonald's is giving away free "frorks" (hollow-ended plastic forks with a place to insert french fries tines) tomorrow with the purchase of certain sandwiches.

[BRD-98]

Mark Selby defeated John Higgins to clinch the 2017 Betfred World Snooker Championship title. [source]

Oh, and another thing for current events: on Wikipedia's main page, there's an "In the news" section which updates ongoing or current events that are globally important. It's a cool find especially if you want to get better at current events. That, or just read the news.

[clprez]

Always Dreaming wins the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Looking at Lee finished second and Battle of Midway was third.

[MarkBarrett]

Emmanuel Macron elected as new president of France succeeding François Hollande. Macron's party is En Marche! His wife is Brigitte Trogneux.

*************
13 Reasons Why:
Based on the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and now a Netflix series
Stars: Dylan Minnette & Katherine Langford
Character Hannah Baker commits suicide and leaves behind box of cassettes detailing why she did it.

[alietr]

Mark Selby defeated John Higgins to clinch the 2017 Betfred World Snooker Championship title. [source]

That's definitely NOT within the Jeopardy canon.

[MinnesotaMyron]

Mark Selby defeated John Higgins to clinch the 2017 Betfred World Snooker Championship title. [source]

That's definitely NOT within the Jeopardy canon.

I thought so too, but

#6605, aired 2013-05-10 THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS $600: Ronnie O'Sullivan: this British billiards variant

And ol' Ronnie got a mention in 2004 as well. (Someone must have liked the guy.) You'll only ever need to know "snooker" for your response, but still.

[Foretopman]

Emmanuel Macron elected as new president of France succeeding François Hollande.

I took the opportunity to review the list of past presidents of the fifth republic. (I think Jeopardy! hardly ever asks about any of the older presidents.) The list was (to me) surprisingly short: de Gaulle, Pompidou, d'Estaing, Mitterand, Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande, Macron.

[Blue Lion]

Emmanuel Macron elected as new president of France succeeding François Hollande. Macron's party is En Marche! His wife is Brigitte Trogneux.

Also of note: Neither of France's major parties--Hollande's Socialists nor the Republicans, latest iteration of the country's center-right parties--placed a candidate in the runoff.

[Cat Hammarskjold]

Emmanuel Macron elected as new president of France succeeding François Hollande.

I took the opportunity to review the list of past presidents of the fifth republic. (I think Jeopardy! hardly ever asks about any of the older presidents.) The list was (to me) surprisingly short: de Gaulle, Pompidou, d'Estaing, Mitterand, Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande, Macron.

Terms have been either five or seven years with the ability to serve two terms, and no one has died in office. That really crunches it down.

[9021amyers]

Emmanuel Macron elected as new president of France succeeding François Hollande.

I took the opportunity to review the list of past presidents of the fifth republic. (I think Jeopardy! hardly ever asks about any of the older presidents.) The list was (to me) surprisingly short: de Gaulle, Pompidou, d'Estaing, Mitterand, Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande, Macron.

Terms have been either five or seven years with the ability to serve two terms, and no one has died in office. That really crunches it down.

Pompidou did.

[morbeedo]

Dunkirk, a film directed by Christopher Nolan (Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy), to be released in July 2017

The film is a triptych told from 3 perspectives: the air (planes), the land (on the beach) and the sea (the evacuation by the navy)

Notable cast: Kenneth Branagh (Academy Award nominee), Tom Hardy (Academy Award nominee), Mark Rylance (Academy Award and Tony award winner) and Harry Styles (1D band member)

[hbomb1947]

Moon Jae-in has declared victory in the South Korean Presidential election. This comes about two months after President Park Geun-hye was ousted from office pursuant to impeachment proceedings. (There was an interim President after Park's removal, but we'll never need to know his name for J! purposes. )

[Bamaman]

Moon Jae-in has declared victory in the South Korean Presidential election. This comes about two months after President Park Geun-hye was ousted from office pursuant to impeachment proceedings. (There was an interim President after Park's removal, but we'll never need to know his name for J! purposes. )

I'd say you just need to know it happened.