Ken Jennings

Before he became a “Jeopardy!” legend, Ken Jennings was a 29-year-old computer programmer living in Salt Lake City, wondering if there was any way out of a career in coding.

“My wife says I kept talking about going to law school, that’s how desperate I was,” he joked.

Jennings had double-majored in English and computer science and always wanted to write, but after graduating and getting engaged he took a job at a tech start-up to pay the bills. Then he qualified for “Jeopardy!”

In 2004, Jennings won 74 games in a row, earning more than $2.5 million. No one has come close to beating his streak (the nearest challenger won 20 consecutive games), though Holzhauer is closing in.

In April, Holzhauer became the only contestant to join Jennings in earning more than $1 million in regular-season play. (Another contestant, Brad Rutter, has earned more than either of them, but he earned the vast majority of his winnings — more than $4.5 million — in arguably more difficult tournament games.)