Nicolas Bennett was breezing through to the million pounds, easily answering questions one after another. At the final one—with two lifelines left and a guaranteed £125,000—he just needed to pause and think. But, as they say, it wasn't meant to be.
According to Deadline, the final question was: “Which of these words, coined by a famous writer, appeared in the title of a fairy tale about three princes?” The options: Pandemonium, Serendipity, Utopia, Yahoo.
Bennett used the "ask the host" lifeline (Jeremy Clarkson just shrugged). Then he decided to phone a friend—again to no avail.
Nicolas could have taken the jackpot of half a million. But he chose to risk it. His answer—Yahoo—was incorrect. The correct one was Serendipity. Result: back to £125,000.
Source:
millionaire.fandom.com
Now, let's find out what this word—Serendipity—actually means. According to Wikipedia, it first appeared in English in 1754 when writer Horace Walpole used it in a letter to a friend, describing it as “the ability to make fortunate discoveries by accident.”
The inspiration came from an old Persian tale about three princes from the land of Serendip. The three sons of King Bahram set out into the world—to gain wisdom, understand the language of animals, and avoid dangers foretold by birds. The story became known in Europe in the 16th century thanks to an Italian translation by Cristoforo Armeno.
So yes, Bennett was wrong. But now we all know that Serendipity is not just a cute word, but an entire adventure from a fairy tale, where good triumphs, and coincidences are not so random.
Earlier, we at zoomboola.com reported that a £1 billion city was being built for the Harry Potter series.