who won the first million on who wants to be a millionaire
John Carpenter
title: John Carpenter (game show contestant) text: John Carpenter (game show contestant) John Carpenter (born c. 1968) is an American game show contestant and IRS agent. He is best known for becoming the first top prize winner on the United States version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". He held the record for the largest single win in United States game show history, until it was broken by Rahim Oberholtzer who won $1.12 million on another U.S. quiz show, "Twenty One". Carpenter was also the first top prize winner among all international versions of the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" series. On the November 19, title: John Carpenter (game show contestant) text: wife, and his son. Additionally, he was also the first expert in the "Ask the Expert" lifeline for the eighth season of the syndicated series. John Carpenter (game show contestant) John Carpenter (born c. 1968) is an American game show contestant and IRS agent. He is best known for becoming the first top prize winner on the United States version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". He held the record for the largest single win in United States game show history, until it was broken by Rahim Oberholtzer who won $1.12 million on another U.S. quiz show, "Twenty One". title: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (U.S. game show) text: Millionaire?" franchise. The original U.S. version aired on ABC from August 16, 1999, to June 27, 2002, and was hosted by Regis Philbin. The daily syndicated version of the show began airing on September 16, 2002, and was hosted for eleven seasons by Meredith Vieira until May 31, 2013. Later hosts included Cedric the Entertainer in the 2013–14 season, Terry Crews in the following season (2014–15), and Chris Harrison, who began hosting on September 14, 2015. As the first U.S. network game show to offer a million-dollar top prize, the show made television history by becoming one of the highest-rated title: Judith Keppel text: Judith Keppel Judith Cynthia Aline Keppel (born 18 August 1942) was the first one-million-pound winner on the television game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in the United Kingdom. She is the first person to have won a million pounds or more on a British television game show. She has appeared on the BBC Two quiz show "Eggheads" since 2003. Keppel's father Hon Walter Arnold Crispian Keppel (1914–1996) was a lieutenant commander in the Fleet Air Arm, who moved with the family to various naval postings around Britain until they settled in London when she was 17. She took title: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? text: on 19 November 1999. Carpenter did not use a lifeline until the final question, using his Phone-a-Friend not for help but to call his father to tell him he had won the million. Other notable top prize winners include Judith Keppel, the first winner of the UK version; Kevin Olmstead from the U.S. version, who won a progressive jackpot of $2.18 million; Martin Flood from the Australian version, who was investigated by producers after suspicions that he had cheated, much like Charles Ingram, but was later cleared; and Sushil Kumar from the Indian version, who is often referred to in