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John Carpenter became the first winner of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on Nov. 19, 1999

On his now-famous episode, Carpenter used his lifeline to call his father and tell him he was about to win the jackpot prize

Carpenter continued to live in Connecticut and work for the IRS following his win

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire crowned its first million-dollar winner, John Carpenter , on Nov. 19, 1999 — just three months after the U.S. game show premiered on ABC on Aug. 19, 1999.

At the time of his appearance, Carpenter was a 31-year-old Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee who had been married to his wife, Deborah "Debbie" Carpenter, for 15 months. He famously secured the $1 million prize by answering 15 questions correctly without using any lifelines until the fina

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