If you’re an avid Jeopardy! watcher, you know that the most recent champion Amy Schneider is number two on the all-time consecutive wins list—with only Ken Jennings in front of her. When her winning streak recently came to an end, it led us down a path of how exactly Ken Jennings winnings ended too. It’s hard to believe it ever did!

Jennings won a total of 74 times (in comparison to Amy’s 40 times), earning a whopping $2,522,700. His winning streak went from June 2, 2004, all the way through November 30, 2004.

The final day of his Jeopardy! fate came when the Final Jeopardy! category was Business & Industry, and the clue was “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.” It was the end of a tougher game for Jennings, as one of the first times, he didn’t have an undefeatable lead against his components.

The round was only against Jennings and second-place contestant, Nancy Zerg (as the third-place contestant David Hankins finished in the negatives after Double Jeopardy!, disqualifying him from the final round).

Jennings was clearly stuck when writing down his answer, but Zerg seemed to have finished rather quickly. She answered first, offering the correct response of “What is H&R Block?” She wagered $4,401 of her $10,000 total, which gave her a mere $1 lead over Jennings.

When Jennings was asked to share his answer, we learned he was incorrect—and clearly not something the audience was expecting. You can hear a loud gasp when they realize he just lost. And let’s not even talk about Nancy—she’s clearly shocked and thrilled…but mostly shocked.

The audience gave a standing ovation, not only to cheer on Zerg but also honor Jennings’ run. Trebek then referred to her as a “giant killer”—obviously in the best way possible!

Jennings didn’t take the loss hard at all—he hugged Zerg and looked genuinely happy for her. After all, all good things must come to an end at some point, right?

“I remember an interview with Nancy Zerg where she said it wasn’t till hours later after she defeated Ken when she realized she also won $14k,” someone wrote, reflecting on the moment in a video on YouTube. “I love how Jennings immediately went and hugged her. He wasn’t a sore loser at all and was simply happy for her. Perfect human character right here ️” another observed.

“Nancy has the best ice breaker of all time. She beat Ken Jennings at Jeopardy, it’s like beating Hercules at lifting,” another joked.

Check out the historic moment and reflect along with us!

Did you watch this moment live, or any of Kennings’ winnings?