Anyone see Jeopardy this evening?

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Posted By: Ray

Here's the final question (not exactly as it appeared in Jeopardy):

On February 22nd, 1936 Walter Johnson threw this across the Rappahannock in a reenactment

No one got it right. Anyone who didn't see Jeopardy tonight know what it is?

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

What is a half-dollar?

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Posted By: Ray

Very quick and correct, Dave.

I knew it was a reenactment of what George Washington threw across the river, but couldn't remember what it was he threw.

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Posted By: Drew

Hi Ray
I watched Jeopardy and I got the final question correct. It doesn't happen often but its nice to
get the final question right when all three of the contestants don't.



Drew

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Posted By: barrysloate

I knew silver dollar right away and two of them guessed "cannonball." How on earth do you throw a cannonball across a river? And they were three smart players!

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

Silver dollar across the Patomac?

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Posted By: Steve f

It wasn't a cherry tree?.. For any civil war buffs, Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock R. is a terrific old civil war town, easy to walk around to see the battlefield sites. Also, it's right off I-95.

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Posted By: Ray

Barry,
I was wondering where they got the "cannonball" idea, too. Where did they come up with that idea? Who's ever famously thrown a cannonball? Let alone across a river? The other guy guessed "baseball", which for a final jeopardy question, would've been absurd in itself.

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Posted By: Steve f

Barry if I may,

I believe the contestants were thinking reenactment of the Battle of Fredericksburg. After a lengthy cannon assault of the town, the Yanks marched uphill across a vast open field to their own slaughter (about 20K casualties total). Thanks to a tremendously inept General Burnside.

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Posted By: barrysloate

What the contestants didn't know, and Alex mentioned it afterwards, was that Johnson threw the silver dollar 317 feet to get it across the river. You might be able to throw a cannonball about 12 feet, give or take. Those things are pretty heavy.

Is it my imagination, or is there a well known photo of Johnson holding that silver dollar?

There was also a clue built into the question. Everyone knows that Washington threw that silver dollar across the Delaware, and the date of Feb 22, 1936 was Washington's birthday!

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Posted By: Clint

I believe it took Johnson three tries to get one across. I also believe the photo Barry is talking about along with the silver dollar was sold in the Halper auction.

Clint

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Posted By: barrysloate

You're right Clint. That's where I saw it. Thanks.

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Posted By: Denny

Burnside was a wanna~be puppet...He killed alot of soldiers that day....His own! Ouch...

Alot of Irish fell that day(Along with many others).

Here's a true story:

Part of the land they fought on was a farm inwhich many Irish folk worked. They saved their money, so they could pay the passage for their loved ones to come to America, Only to die on the same field inwhich their kin worked. Sad, but True.

I love this Country & all that it has to offer! Sometimes when we hear these type of things it makes us wonder what it's all about? Collecting these wonderful pieces of history sometimes digs up the past thats hard to swallow. Don't you agree?

Life's Grand,
Denny Walsh

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Posted By: Steve f

Denny I agree.


After the war, I believe, the battlefield was subdivided and small homes were built upon that sacred ground. It is nice to see that with donations, the historical society is able to buy up the F-burg homes when they hit the market. They then raze em, fill in the foundation and grass it over.

True about the Irish regiments. The imigrants were inducted not long after they hit the piers on Fulton Street... Have you read 'Paradise Alley'?

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Posted By: Kenneth A. Cohen

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Posted By: Denny

Steve,
Not yet, whats it bout....? I love to read Do you have a copy I may borrow? If I may be so bold as to ask! :=)

Life's Grand,
Denny

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Posted By: Damian Anderson

Anyone have any idea how far Washington threw his half dollar? Sounds like he had a pretty good arm.

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

I believe Barry indicated that he threw a silver dollar 317 feet. That's pretty darn far for that toss.

I still get a kick out of the answer "cannon ball" that was provided by two contestants. At least one of the contestants anwered "baseball".

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Posted By: barrysloate

I'm sure Jeopardy has a website. Maybe someone should forward them this thread; they would get a kick to know that Final Jeopardy became such a topic of discussion.

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Posted By: Glen V

Did they even make dollars when this wasn't a country? Washington probably threw a shilling or some other coin, if the legend is even true...

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Posted By: Steve f

I read a copy about three years ago. One of the many that we had kicking around the firehouse. You could find it at the library.

*Amazon has one for $2... Great read if you're interested in early US firefighting, Civil War Draft or Irish immigrant hardships in NYC. No baseball stuff though.

the book; http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/006087595X/ref=dp_olp_2/102-0728482-0340954

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Posted By: barrysloate

The first US silver dollars were minted in 1794, and because only 17,000 were made, they are quite rare today. In 1795 they began mass producing them.

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

Copied and pasted from an article in cyberspace:

If the young George Washington actually threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River (or Rappahannock, as some contend), it was probably a legendary Pillar dollar. This superlative classic emerged from the New World's oldest mint at Mexico City, as its "O over M" mintmark attests -- the first precision-struck silver dollar of the Americas, perfectly rounded and far better minted than previous "pieces of eight." The Pillar 8 reales was a legal tender dollar in the coin-scarce 13 Colonies and remained so in the early U.S. The Pillars of Gibraltar (where ships embarked for the Americas) flank Old and New World hemispheres. The Bourbon crest displays lions of Leon and castles of Castile. Our scarce Fine quality carries prominent chopmarks of Chinese merchants, who tested the coin's silver content.

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Posted By: Silver King

Was the Jeopardy answer a half dollar or silver dollar? I am headed to a football field after work today to fly some RC planes and I am thinking I will take my best shot at throwing a coin from end zone to endzone to see how far it will fly. God help me, I will probably end up tearing my rotator cuff or something. If I had a cannonball laying around I would see how far I could throw it too.

robert shaw

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Posted By: barrysloate

Johnson threw a silver dollar. I have no idea how he threw it over 300 feet.

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Posted By: Cobby33

It's too bad Connery and Burt Reynolds weren't contestants.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I know you refer to the SNL sketch with Will Ferrell as Alex. I remember one of the charities Burt Reynolds played for was the Beverly Hills Tennis and Golf Club. Now there's a worthy cause!