Winnipeg was the answer on Jeopardy! tonight in a memorable Final Jeopardy round that helped a Canadian contestant extend his winning streak.
James Hirsh, a lawyer from Toronto, Ontario, entered the show with $47,418 in earnings after back-to-back victories. His competitors were Elizabeth Hurd, a pastor from West Bloomfield, Michigan, and Patrick Creech, a planning director originally from North Carolina.
The Final Jeopardy category was “Literary Origins,” and the clue read: As a child, Christopher Robin Milne loved feeding a London Zoo animal whose former owner hailed from this city.
Only Hirsh correctly responded, “What is Winnipeg?” adding $3,800 to his score and finishing the night with $20,000, bringing his three-day total to $67,418.
Hirsh, being a Canadian, likely had a bit of an advantage with this question thanks to a Heritage Minute that aired on Canadian television for years, recounting the true story behind Winnie-the-Pooh and the Canadian roots of the bear who inspired the tales.
This isn’t the first time Winnipeg has been spotlighted on the quiz show.
Most recently, in July 2025, under the category That’s Honorific!, contestants answered a clue about Canadian civic titles by correctly responding to: “In Canada, His or Her Worship is for people with this government job, like Scott Gillingham of Winnipeg & Surrey, B.C.’s Brenda Locke.”
The correct response was “What is a mayor?”
The real story of Winnie-the-Pooh
In 1914, veterinarian Harry Colebourn of the Canadian Army purchased an orphaned female black bear cub in White River, Ontario, naming her “Winnipeg,” or Winnie for short, after his adopted hometown.
The Canadian Encyclopedia recounts the story of how the bear became the unofficial mascot of the Fort Garry Horse Regiment and travelled with the unit to England during the First World War. Before shipping to the front, Colebourn left Winnie in the care of the London Zoo.
At the zoo, Winnie became a beloved attraction and caught the eye of a young Christopher Robin Milne, inspiring his father, A.A. Milne, to create the beloved character Winnie-the-Pooh.
Winnie lived at the zoo until her death in 1934, while Colebourn returned to Winnipeg, where he died in 1947.
