document_title: A Christmas Story

question_text: who ate the turkey in a christmas story

question_tokens: who ate the turkey in a christmas story

text: A Christmas Story

text: Plot[edit]

text: The film is presented in a series of vignettes, with narration provided by the adult Ralphie Parker reminiscing on one particular Christmas when he was nine years old. Ralphie wanted only one thing for that Christmas: a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. Ralphie's desire is rejected by his mother, his teacher Miss Shields, and even a Santa Claus at Higbee's department store, all giving him the same warning: "You'll shoot your eye out."

text: Christmas morning arrives and Ralphie dives into his presents. Although he does receive some presents he enjoys, Ralphie ultimately is disappointed that he did not receive the one thing he wanted more than anything. After it appears all of the presents have been opened, Ralphie's father, "The Old Man," directs Ralphie to look at one last present that he had hidden. Ralphie opens it to reveal the Red Ryder gun he wanted.

text: Ralphie takes the gun outside and fires it at a target perched on a metal sign in the backyard. However, the BB ricochets back at Ralphie and knocks his glasses off. While searching for them, thinking he has indeed shot his eye out, Ralphie accidentally steps on his glasses and breaks them. He lies to his mother that a falling icicle broke his glasses, and she believes him.

text: Ralphie is in bed on Christmas night with his gun by his side. The adult Ralphie narrates that this was the best present he had ever received or would ever receive.

text: Other vignettes:

text:
The Old Man wins a "major award" in a contest, which turns out to be a lamp in the shape of a woman's leg wearing a fishnet stocking, which was derived from the logo for Nehi (pronounced "knee-high") pop, a popular soft drink of the period.[4] The Old Man is overjoyed by the lamp, but Mrs. Parker does not like it and a feud over it — referred to by adult Ralphie as "The Battle of the Lamp" — develops and results in the lamp's "accidental" destruction.[5]
The Old Man also fights a never-ending battle with the malfunctioning furnace in the Parker home. His frustrations cause him to swear quite often, including one profanity-laden rant that the adult Ralphie says "is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan."[6]
Still another source of frustration for The Old Man is the dogs that belong to the next door hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpuses. The Bumpuses own "at least 785 smelly hound dogs" that harass The Old Man whenever he comes home from work. On Christmas Day, the dogs ruin the family's dinner by romping through their kitchen and eating their turkey. This results in the family having Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant instead.[7]
Ralphie and his friends Flick and Schwartz are tormented by the neighborhood bullies Scut Farkus and Grover Dill. Ralphie eventually snaps and beats up Farkus.[8]
Flick accepts a dare from Schwartz to stick his tongue onto the school flagpole. His tongue freezes onto the pole, requiring assistance from the police and fire department to free him.
After getting a Christmas tree on the ride home, one of The Old Man's tires becomes flat, so he goes to fix it. Mrs. Parker encourages Ralphie to help. When Ralphie flips the tire he says, "Oh Fudge!" but he actually said the bad word. At home, Ralphie is given Lifebuoy soap in his mouth. His mother asks where he heard the word. He actually has heard from The Old Man every day but chickens out and says Schwartz. This leads to his mother calling Schwartz's mother on the phone.
For homework, Ralphie and his class are assigned to write on what they want for Christmas. Ralphie knows what he is going to write about: The Red Ryder BB Gun. He imagines the ultimate A+, but gets a C+, with Miss Shields writing, "You'll shoot your eye out!" on the paper.
Ralphie, a fan of the Little Orphan Annie radio program, eagerly awaits the arrival of a decoder pin he has applied to receive. When it comes in the mail, he uses it to decode a secret message at the end of the day's broadcast, but is disappointed to find it is only an advertisement for Ovaltine, the show's sponsor.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker

Jean Shepherd as adult Ralphie (voice)

Ian Petrella as Randy Parker
Melinda Dillon as Mrs. Parker
Darren McGavin as Mr. Parker (The Old Man)
Scott Schwartz as Flick
R. D. Robb as Schwartz
Zack Ward as Scut Farkus
Yano Anaya as Grover Dill
Tedde Moore as Miss Shields
Jeff Gillen as Santa Claus

text: Casting[edit]

text: The basis of the screenplay is a series of monologues written and performed by Jean Shepherd on radio. Shepherd wrote the screenplay adaptation with Bob Clark and Leigh Brown.[9] Several subplots are incorporated into the body of the film, based on other separate short stories by Shepherd. Shepherd provides the film's narration from the perspective of an adult Ralphie, a narrative style later used in the dramedy television series The Wonder Years. Shepherd, Brown and Clark all have cameo appearances in the film: Shepherd plays the man who directs Ralphie and Randy to the back of the Santa line at the department store; Brown – Shepherd's wife in real life – plays the woman in the Santa line with Shepherd; Clark plays Swede, the neighbor the Old Man talks to outside during the Leg Lamp scene.

text: In the DVD commentary, director Bob Clark mentions that Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of the Old Man; Clark expresses gratitude that he ended up with Darren McGavin instead, who later appeared in several other Clark films. He cast Melinda Dillon on the basis of her similar role in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Some 8,000 actors auditioned for the role of Ralphie; "He walked in, and he had us from the beginning," Clark later recalled of Peter Billingsley who was already a successful actor in commercials[10] and from co-hosting the TV series Real People. Clark initially wanted him for the role of Ralphie, but decided he was "too obvious" a choice and auditioned many other young actors before realizing that Billingsley was the right choice after all.

text: Ian Petrella was cast immediately before filming began. Tedde Moore had previously appeared in Clark's film Murder by Decree and was the only onscreen character from A Christmas Story who was played by the same actor in the sequel, My Summer Story. Jeff Gillen was an old friend of Clark's who had been in one of his earliest films.[11] The schoolyard bully, Scut Farkus, was played by Zack Ward, now an actor, writer and director, who had actually been bullied himself while in elementary school. In 2017, he said he was surprised at the impact his role had had over the years. "I saw that I was ranked — as Christmas villains go — higher than the Grinch. That’s amazing."[12]

text: Production[edit]

text: The screenplay for A Christmas Story is based on material from author Jean Shepherd's collection of short stories, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. Three of the semi-autobiographical short stories on which the film is based were originally published in Playboy magazine between 1964 and 1966.[13] Shepherd later read "Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder nails the Cleveland Street Kid" and told the otherwise unpublished story "Flick's Tongue" on his WOR Radio talk show, as can be heard in one of the DVD extras.[14] Bob Clark states on the DVD commentary that he became interested in Shepherd's work when he heard "Flick's Tongue" on the radio in 1968. Additional source material for the film, according to Clark, came from unpublished anecdotes that Shepherd told live audiences "on the college circuit."[11]

text: Locations[edit]

text: The film is set in Hohman, Indiana, a fictionalized version of Shepherd's hometown of Hammond, named for Hohman Avenue, which runs through downtown Hammond.[15] Local references in the film include Warren G. Harding Elementary School and Cleveland Street (where Shepherd spent his childhood). Other local references include mention of a person "swallowing a yo-yo" in nearby Griffith,[16] the Old Man being one of the fiercest "furnace fighters in northern Indiana" and that his obscenities were "hanging in space over Lake Michigan," a mention of the Indianapolis 500, and the line to Santa Claus "stretching all the way to Terre Haute, Indiana." The Old Man is also revealed to be a fan of the Bears (whom he jokingly calls the "Chicago Chipmunks") and White Sox, consistent with living in northwest Indiana.

text: Director Bob Clark reportedly sent scouts to twenty cities before selecting Cleveland for exterior filming. Cleveland was chosen because of Higbee's Department Store in downtown Cleveland. (Since Higbee's was exclusive to northeast Ohio,[17] the department store referenced in Shepherd's book and the film is most likely Goldblatt's, located in downtown Hammond [with the Cam-Lan Chinese Restaurant three doors down on Sibley Ave].) Until they connected with Higbee's, location scouts had been unsuccessful in finding a department store that was willing to be part of the film. Higbee's vice president Bruce Campbell agreed to take part in the project on the condition he be allowed to edit the script for cursing. Ultimately, Higbee's was the stage for three scenes in the film:

text:
The opening scene in which Ralphie first spies the Red Ryder BB Gun in the store's Christmas window display. Higbee's was known for its elaborate, child-centered Christmas themes and decorations, with Santa as the centerpiece.
The parade scene, filmed just outside Higbee’s on Public Square at 3 AM. The parade was filmed at night because during the daytime the 1960s Erieview Tower and Federal Building were visible from the Public Square, as was the BP Tower, which was under construction at the time.
Ralphie and Randy’s visit to see Santa, which was filmed inside Higbee’s. The store kept the Santa slide that was made for the film and used it for several years after the film's release.

text: Higbee's became Dillard's in 1992 and closed for good in 2002.[18]

text: In addition to the scenes involving Higbee's, the exterior shots (and select interior shots where Ralphie lived, including the opening of the leg lamp) of the house and neighborhood, were filmed in the Tremont section of Cleveland's West Side. The house used as the Parker home in these scenes has been restored, reconfigured inside to match the soundstage interiors, and opened to the public as "A Christmas Story House". Appropriately, the fictional boyhood home of Ralphie Parker is on Cleveland Street, the name of the actual street where Shepherd grew up.

text: However, Cleveland was only one of several locations used. The school scenes were shot at the Victoria School in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.[19] The Christmas tree-purchasing scene was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, as was the sound stage filming of interior shots of the Parker home.[20][21] The "...only I didn't say fudge" scene was filmed at the foot of Cherry Street in Toronto; several lake freighters are visible in the background spending the winter at Toronto's port, which lends authenticity to the time of year when the film was produced.

text: In 2008, two fans from Canada released a documentary that visits every location used in the film. Their film, Road Trip for Ralphie, was shot over two years and includes footage of the filmmakers saving Miss Shields' blackboard from the garbage bin on the day the old Victoria School was gutted for renovation, discovering the antique fire truck that saved Flick, locating all the original costumes from the film, and tracking down the real-life location of the film's Chop Suey Palace in Toronto.[22]

text: Red Ryder BB gun[edit]

text: The Red Ryder BB gun was available beginning in 1938 and remains available today, but never in the exact configuration mentioned in the film. The Daisy "Buck Jones" model did have a compass and a sundial in the stock, but these features were not included in the Red Ryder model.[23] The compass and sundial were placed on Ralphie's BB gun, but on the opposite side of the stock due to Peter Billingsley being left-handed.[24]

text: Dating the story[edit]

text: Director Bob Clark stated in the film's DVD commentary that both he and author Shepherd wished for the film to be seen as "amorphously late-'30s, early-'40s".[25] A specific year is never mentioned in the film; however, numerous sources including The New York Times and CBS News have dated the film variously at 1940 to the early 1940s.[26][27][28][29]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
A Christmas Story

Soundtrack album by Various artists

Released
November 10, 2009

Recorded
1983

Genre
Instrumental, holiday

Label
Rhino Records

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

Allmusic
[30]

text: Release and reception[edit]

text: Initially overlooked as a sleeper film,[31] A Christmas Story was released a week before Thanksgiving 1983 to moderate success, earning about $2 million in its first weekend.[32] Vincent Canby's mostly negative New York Times review complained that "the movie's big comic pieces tend only to be exceedingly busy. Though Mr. Billingsley, Mr. Gavin, Miss Dillon and the actress who plays Ralphie's school teacher (Tedde Moore) are all very able, they are less funny than actors in a television situation comedy." [33]

text: Roger Ebert suggested the film had only modest success because holiday-themed films were not popular at the time[34] but he praised the nostalgia of the movie, and the Santa scene, which is the "best visit to Santa I've ever seen".[35]

text: The film would go on to win two categories in the 5th Genie Awards, for Director Bob Clark and Best Original Screenplay for the work of Leigh Brown, Bob Clark and Jean Shepherd.[36]

text: By Christmas 1983 the film was no longer playing at most venues, but remained in about a hundred theaters until January 1984.[11] Gross earnings were just over $19.2 million.[32] In the years since, due to television airings and home video release, A Christmas Story has become widely popular and is now an annual Christmas special. The film was produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The rights to the film were acquired by Turner Entertainment Co. after Ted Turner's purchase of MGM's pre-1986 film library. Subsequently, Time Warner purchased Turner Entertainment, and currently holds rights to the film.

text: Over the years, the film's critical reputation has grown considerably and it is considered by some to be one of the best films of 1983.[37] Based on 55 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 89%, with an average score of 8.5/10. The site's consensus reads: "Both warmly nostalgic and darkly humorous, A Christmas Story deserves its status as a holiday perennial."[38] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[39] In his movie guide, Leonard Maltin awarded the film a rare[citation needed] four-star rating, calling the film "Delightful" and "Truly funny for kids and grown-ups alike" with "Wonderful period flavor."[40]

text: On December 24, 2007, AOL ranked the film their #1 Christmas film of all time.[41] IGN ranked the film the top holiday-themed film of all time.[42] In 2012, a Marist Poll named the film the favorite holiday film in the U.S.[43]

text: American Film Institute lists

text:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – Nominated[44]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:

"You'll shoot your eye out." – Nominated[45]

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[46]

text: Broadcasting and home video release[edit]

text: Television[edit]

text: The film first aired on television on HBO in 1985, and quickly attracted a growing following. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the film began airing quietly on SuperStation WTBS and Superstation WGN.[47] In 1988, then-fledgling Fox aired the film the night after Thanksgiving.[47] In 1989–1990, TBS showed it Thanksgiving night, while in 1991–1992, they aired it the night after.[47]

text: 24 Hours of A Christmas Story[edit]

text: Turner Broadcasting has maintained ownership of the broadcast rights, and since the mid-1990s, aired the film increasingly on TBS, TNT, and TCM. By 1995, it was aired on those networks a combined six times on December 24–26,[47] and in 1996, it was aired eight times over those three days.[47]

text: Due to the increasing popularity of the film, in 1997, TNT began airing a 24-hour marathon dubbed "24 Hours of A Christmas Story," consisting of the film shown twelve consecutive times beginning at 7 or 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and ending Christmas Day.[47] This was in addition to various other airings earlier in the month of December. In 2004, after TNT switched to a predominantly drama format, sister network TBS, under its comedy-based "Very Funny" moniker, took over the marathon. Clark stated that, in 2002, an estimated 38.4 million people tuned into the marathon at one point or another, nearly one sixth of the country.[11] TBS reported 45.4 million viewers in 2005,[48] and 45.5 million in 2006.[49] In 2007, new all-time ratings records were set,[50] with the highest single showing (8 p.m. Christmas Eve) drawing 4.4 million viewers.[50] Viewership increased again in 2008, with 8 p.m. Christmas Eve drawing 4.5 million viewers, and 10 p.m. drawing 4.3 million,[51] and 54.4 million total.[52] As of 2009, the film had been shown 250 times on the Turner family of networks.[52]

text: In 2007, the marathon continued, and the original tradition was revived. TNT also aired the film twice the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend (November 25). In 2009, the 24-hour marathon continued on TBS, for the 13th overall year, starting at 8 p.m. eastern on Christmas Eve.[53]

text: In 2009, the film aired on TBS during a 24-hour marathon on Christmas Eve. The first viewing at 8 p.m. Eastern on December 24 earned a 1.6 rating (18–49) and beat the major broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox).[54] In 2010, the marathon averaged 3 million viewers, up 2% from the previous year, ranking TBS as the top cable network for the 24-hour period. The 10 a.m. airing on December 25 was seen by 4.4 million viewers, and the 8 p.m. airing on December 24 was close behind with 4.3 million viewers.[55] The marathons in 2011[56] and 2012[57] continued to see increases in ratings.

text: For the 2014 and 2015 editions of the marathon, Turner Broadcasting elected to simulcast it on both TNT and TBS, marking the first time since 2003 that TNT aired it as well as the first time the marathon is being carried by multiple stations; the two networks set their airings one hour apart (so that the TNT airings began while TBS was at the middle of the film).[58][59] Both networks were running 24 hour marathons in 2017, as well.[60]

text: Subsequent and earlier works[edit]

text: A sequel involving Ralphie and his family, titled My Summer Story (originally released as It Runs in the Family), was made in 1994. With the exceptions of Tedde Moore as Ralphie's teacher (Miss Shields) and Jean Shepherd as the narrator (the voice of the adult Ralphie), it features an entirely different cast. A series of television films involving the Parker family, also from Shepherd stories, were made by PBS, including Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988), The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski (1985), The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters (1982), and The Phantom of the Open Hearth (1976).

text: A Christmas Story 2 is another sequel which ignores the references and events of My Summer Story and was released direct-to-video in 2012[61] and directed by Brian Levant. It was filmed in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.[62]

text: Stage adaptations[edit]

text: In 2000, a stage play adaptation of A Christmas Story was written by Philip Grecian.[63]

text: In November 2012, A Christmas Story: The Musical, based on the film, opened on Broadway. Written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (music and lyrics) and Joseph Robinette (book), the musical opened to positive reviews.[64] The run ended December 30, 2012.[65] The musical was directed by John Rando with choreography by Warren Carlyle and featured Dan Lauria as Jean Shepherd.[66] The musical received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Robinette), and Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre.[67]

text: The musical was then adapted for television as the three hour A Christmas Story Live!, which aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 17, 2017.[68] Reviews were mixed; on Rotten Tomatoes, the production received a 46% rating based on 13 critics' reviews and a very low 14% based on 44 audience reviews.[69]

text: Home video releases[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
Betamax (1984,1988)
VHS (1984, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000)
LaserDisc (1985): pan and scan
LaserDisc (1993): deluxe letterbox edition
DVD (1997, reissued by Warner Home Video in 1999): fullscreen, includes original theatrical trailer
DVD (2003) 20th Anniversary 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2003): Widescreen & Fullscreen; includes cast interviews, audio commentary, and featurettes.
HD DVD (2006)[70]
Blu-ray (2006)[71]
DVD (2008) Ultimate Collector's Edition: Metal tin case features the same 2003 two-disc special edition, but includes special memorabilia.[72]
Blu-ray (2008) Ultimate Collector's Edition: Metal tin which features the same 2006 Blu-ray disc, but also includes a strand of Leg Lamp Christmas lights.[73]
Blu-ray (2013) 30th Anniversary Edition: Steelbook with Blu-ray in 1080p (like the previous Blu-ray and HD-DVD) with a DTS-HD Master Audio mono track (whereas the previous releases had Dolby Digital mono), and more special features than the previous Blu-ray and HD-DVD.


document_title: Poker probability

question_text: chances of getting a royal flush in texas holdem

root

text: Poker probability

text: History[edit]

text:
Probability and gambling have been an idea since long before the invention of poker. The development of probability theory in the late 1400s was attributed to gambling; when playing a game with high stakes, players wanted to know what the chance of winning would be. In 1494, Fra Luca Paccioli released his work Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni e proportionalita which was the first written text on probability. Motivated by Paccioli’s work, Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576) made further developments in probability theory. His work from 1550, titled Liber de Ludo Aleae, discussed the concepts of probability and how they were directly related to gambling. However, his work did not receive any immediate recognition since it was not published until after his death. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) also contributed to probability theory. His friend, Chevalier de Méré, was an avid gambler with the goal to become wealthy from it.  De Méré tried a new mathematical approach to a gambling game but did not get the desired results. Determined to know why his strategy was unsuccessful, he consulted with Pascal. Pascal’s work on this problem began an important correspondence between him and fellow mathematician Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665). Communicating through letters, the two continued to exchange their ideas and thoughts. These interactions led to the conception of basic probability theory. To this day, many gamblers still rely on the basic concepts of probability theory in order to make informed decisions while gambling.[1]
[2]

tag: p

text: Frequency of 5-card poker hands[edit]

text: The following chart enumerates the (absolute) frequency of each hand, given all combinations of 5 cards randomly drawn from a full deck of 52 without replacement. Wild cards are not considered. In this chart:

text:
Distinct hands is the number of different ways to draw the hand, not counting different suits.
Frequency is the number of ways to draw the hand, including the same card values in different suits.
The Probability of drawing a given hand is calculated by dividing the number of ways of drawing the hand (Frequency) by the total number of 5-card hands (the sample space;

(

52
5

)

=
2
,
598
,
960

{\displaystyle \,{\begin{matrix}{52 \choose 5}=2,598,960\end{matrix}}}

). For example, there are 4 different ways to draw a royal flush (one for each suit), so the probability is 4/2,598,960, or one in 649,740. One would then expect to draw this hand about once in every 649,740 draws, that's nearly 0.000154% of the time.
Cumulative probability refers to the probability of drawing a hand as good as or better than the specified one. For example, the probability of drawing three of a kind is approximately 2.11%, while the probability of drawing a hand at least as good as three of a kind is about 2.87%. The cumulative probability is determined by adding one hand's probability with the probabilities of all hands above it.
The Odds are defined as the ratio of the number of ways not to draw the hand, to the number of ways to draw it. For instance, with a royal flush, there are 4 ways to draw one, and 2,598,956 ways to draw something else (2,598,960 - 4), so the odds against drawing a royal flush are 2,598,956 : 4, or 649,739 : 1. The formula for establishing the odds can also be stated as (1/p) - 1 : 1, where p is the aforementioned probability.
The values given for Probability, Cumulative probability, and Odds are rounded off for simplicity; the Distinct hands and Frequency values are exact.

tag: ul

text:
The nCr function on most scientific calculators can be used to calculate hand frequencies; entering nCr with 52 and 5, for example, yields

(

52
5

)

=
2
,
598
,
960

{\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{52 \choose 5}=2,598,960\end{matrix}}}

 as above.

text:
Hand
Distinct hands
Frequency
Probability
Cumulative probability
Odds
Mathematical expression of absolute frequency

Royal flush

1

4

0.000154%

0.000154%

649,739 : 1

(

4
1

)

{\displaystyle {4 \choose 1}}

Straight flush (excluding royal flush)

9

36

0.00139%

0.0015%

72,192 : 1

(

10
1

)

(

4
1

)

−

(

4
1

)

{\displaystyle {10 \choose 1}{4 \choose 1}-{4 \choose 1}}

Four of a kind

156

624

0.0240%

0.0256%

4,164 : 1

(

13
1

)

(

12
1

)

(

4
1

)

{\displaystyle {13 \choose 1}{12 \choose 1}{4 \choose 1}}

Full house

156

3,744

0.1441%

0.17%

693 : 1

(

13
1

)

(

4
3

)

(

12
1

)

(

4
2

)

{\displaystyle {13 \choose 1}{4 \choose 3}{12 \choose 1}{4 \choose 2}}

Flush (excluding royal flush and straight flush)

1,277

5,108

0.1965%

0.367%

508 : 1

(

13
5

)

(

4
1

)

−

(

10
1

)

(

4
1

)

{\displaystyle {13 \choose 5}{4 \choose 1}-{10 \choose 1}{4 \choose 1}}

Straight (excluding royal flush and straight flush)

10

10,200

0.3925%

0.76%

254 : 1

(

10
1

)

(

4
1

)

5

−

(

10
1

)

(

4
1

)

{\displaystyle {10 \choose 1}{4 \choose 1}^{5}-{10 \choose 1}{4 \choose 1}}

Three of a kind

858

54,912

2.1128%

2.87%

46.3 : 1

(

13
1

)

(

4
3

)

(

12
2

)

(

4
1

)

2

{\displaystyle {13 \choose 1}{4 \choose 3}{12 \choose 2}{4 \choose 1}^{2}}

Two pair

858

123,552

4.7539%

7.62%

20.0 : 1

(

13
2

)

(

4
2

)

2

(

11
1

)

(

4
1

)

{\displaystyle {13 \choose 2}{4 \choose 2}^{2}{11 \choose 1}{4 \choose 1}}

One pair

2,860

1,098,240

42.2569%

49.9%

1.37 : 1

(

13
1

)

(

4
2

)

(

12
3

)

(

4
1

)

3

{\displaystyle {13 \choose 1}{4 \choose 2}{12 \choose 3}{4 \choose 1}^{3}}

No pair / High card

1,277

1,302,540

50.1177%

100%

0.995 : 1

[

(

13
5

)

−
10

]

[

(

4
1

)

5

−
4

]

{\displaystyle \left[{13 \choose 5}-10\right]\left[{4 \choose 1}^{5}-4\right]}

Total

7,462

2,598,960

100%

---

0 : 1

(

52
5

)

{\displaystyle {52 \choose 5}}

tag: table

text: The royal flush is a case of the straight flush. It can be formed 4 ways (one for each suit), giving it a probability of 0.000154% and odds of 649,739 : 1.

text: When ace-low straights and ace-low straight flushes are not counted, the probabilities of each are reduced: straights and straight flushes each become 9/10 as common as they otherwise would be.  The 4 missed straight flushes become flushes and the 1,020 missed straights become no pair.

text: Note that since suits have no relative value in poker, two hands can be considered identical if one hand can be transformed into the other by swapping suits.  For example, the hand 3♣ 7♣ 8♣ Q♠ A♠ is identical to 3♦ 7♦ 8♦ Q♥ A♥ because replacing all of the clubs in the first hand with diamonds and all of the spades with hearts produces the second hand.  So eliminating identical hands that ignore relative suit values, there are only 134,459 distinct hands.

text: The number of distinct poker hands is even smaller.  For example, 3♣ 7♣ 8♣ Q♠ A♠ and 3♦ 7♣ 8♦ Q♥ A♥ are not identical hands when just ignoring suit assignments because one hand has three suits, while the other hand has only two—that difference could affect the relative value of each hand when there are more cards to come.  However, even though the hands are not identical from that perspective, they still form equivalent poker hands because each hand is an A-Q-8-7-3 high card hand.  There are 7,462 distinct poker hands.

text: Frequency of 7-card poker hands[edit]

text:
In some popular variations of poker such as Texas Hold 'Em, a player uses the best five-card poker hand out of seven cards.  The frequencies are calculated in a manner similar to that shown for 5-card hands, except additional complications arise due to the extra two cards in the 7-card poker hand.  The total number of distinct 7-card hands is

(

52
7

)

=
133
,
784
,
560

{\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{52 \choose 7}=133,784,560\end{matrix}}}

.  It is notable that the probability of a no-pair hand is less than the probability of a one-pair or two-pair hand.

text: The Ace-high straight flush or royal flush is slightly more frequent (4324) than the lower straight flushes (4140 each) because the remaining two cards can have any value; a King-high straight flush, for example, cannot have the Ace of its suit in the hand (as that would make it ace-high instead).

text:
Hand
Frequency
Probability
Cumulative
Odds

Royal flush

4,324
0.0032%
0.0032%
30,939 : 1

Straight flush (excl. royal flush)

37,260
0.0279%
0.0311%
3,589.6 : 1

Four of a kind

224,848
0.168%
0.199%
594 : 1

Full house

3,473,184
2.60%
2.80%
37.5 : 1

Flush

4,047,644
3.03%
5.82%
32.1 : 1

Straight

6,180,020
4.62%
10.4%
20.6 : 1

Three of a kind

6,461,620
4.83%
15.3%
19.7 : 1

Two pair

31,433,400
23.5%
38.8%
3.26 : 1

One pair

58,627,800
43.8%
82.6%
1.28 : 1

No pair

23,294,460
17.4%
100%
4.74 : 1

Total

133,784,560
100%
100%
0 : 1

text: Since suits have no relative value in poker, two hands can be considered identical if one hand can be transformed into the other by swapping suits.  Eliminating identical hands that ignore relative suit values leaves 6,009,159 distinct 7-card hands.

text: The number of distinct 5-card poker hands that are possible from 7 cards is 4,824.  Perhaps surprisingly, this is fewer than the number of 5-card poker hands from 5 cards because some 5-card hands are impossible with 7 cards (e.g. 7-high).

text: Frequency of 5-card lowball poker hands[edit]

text:
Some variants of poker, called lowball, use a low hand to determine the winning hand.  In most variants of lowball, the ace is counted as the lowest card and straights and flushes don't count against a low hand, so the lowest hand is the five-high hand A-2-3-4-5, also called a wheel.  The probability is calculated based on

(

52
5

)

=
2
,
598
,
960

{\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{52 \choose 5}=2,598,960\end{matrix}}}

, the total number of 5-card combinations.  (The frequencies given are exact; the probabilities and odds are approximate.)

text:
Hand
Distinct hands
Frequency
Probability
Cumulative
Odds

5-high
1
1,024
0.0394%
0.0394%
2,537.05 : 1

6-high
5
5,120
0.197%
0.236%
506.61 : 1

7-high
15
15,360
0.591%
0.827%
168.20 : 1

8-high
35
35,840
1.38%
2.21%
71.52 : 1

9-high
70
71,680
2.76%
4.96%
35.26 : 1

10-high
126
129,024
4.96%
9.93%
19.14 : 1

Jack-high
210
215,040
8.27%
18.2%
11.09 : 1

Queen-high
330
337,920
13.0%
31.2%
6.69 : 1

King-high
495
506,880
19.5%
50.7%
4.13 : 1

Total
1,287
1,317,888
50.7%
50.7%
0.97 : 1

text: As can be seen from the table, just over half the time a player gets a hand that has no pairs, three- or four-of-a-kinds. (50.7%)

text: If aces are not low, simply rotate the hand descriptions so that 6-high replaces 5-high for the best hand and ace-high replaces king-high as the worst hand.

text: Frequency of 7-card lowball poker hands[edit]

text:
In some variants of poker a player uses the best five-card low hand selected from seven cards.  In most variants of lowball, the ace is counted as the lowest card and straights and flushes don't count against a low hand, so the lowest hand is the five-high hand A-2-3-4-5, also called a wheel.  The probability is calculated based on

(

52
7

)

=
133
,
784
,
560

{\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{52 \choose 7}=133,784,560\end{matrix}}}

, the total number of 7-card combinations.

text: The table does not extend to include five-card hands with at least one pair. Its "Total" represents 95.4% of the time that a player can select a 5-card low hand without any pair.

text:
Hand
Frequency
Probability
Cumulative
Odds

5-high
781,824
0.584%
0.584%
170.12 : 1

6-high
3,151,360
2.36%
2.94%
41.45 : 1

7-high
7,426,560
5.55%
8.49%
17.01 : 1

8-high
13,171,200
9.85%
18.3%
9.16 : 1

9-high
19,174,400
14.3%
32.7%
5.98 : 1

10-high
23,675,904
17.7%
50.4%
4.65 : 1

Jack-high
24,837,120
18.6%
68.9%
4.39 : 1

Queen-high
21,457,920
16.0%
85.0%
5.23 : 1

King-high
13,939,200
10.4%
95.4%
8.60 : 1

Total
127,615,488
95.4%
95.4%
0.05 : 1

text: Bluffing[edit]

text: Bluffing frequency can affect the probability of an opponent calling a bet or folding. A player can bluff at an § Optimal bluffing frequency to try to eliminate any advantage to their opponent.


document_title: The Great Indian Laughter Challenge

question_text: who won the great indian laughter challenge in 2017

text: The Great Indian Laughter Challenge

text: Seasons[edit]

text: In the first season, Sunil Pal was the winner, Ahsaan Qureshi was runner up and Raju Srivastava was second runner up. In the second season contestants from Pakistan were present and the winner Rauf Lala was from Pakistan. The third season was won by Kapil Sharma and the first runner up was Chandan Prabhakar both from Amritsar. Many other talented comedians like Siraj Khan, Sudesh Lehari, Rajiv Thakur, Bharti Singh, Navin Prabhakar, Jassi Kochar, Khayaali, Dipoo Srivastava, Ahsaan Qureshi have appeared in the show.

text: The first two seasons were followed by another show, The Great Indian Laughter Champions, which included top performers of the previous shows. Here also the judges were Sidhu and Shekar including some celebrity guests as well.

text: Recently the first woman to participate was Aarti Kandpal. The fourth season's finalists were Rasbihari Gaur, Bharti Singh, Suresh Albela, and a duo from Pakistan. The winner for the fourth season after a tough laughter war was Suresh Albela.

text: Season 5 had 3 mentors Zakir Khan, Hussain Dalal (Dialouge Writer)| Hussain Dalal and Mallika Dua later replaced by Sajid Khan and Shreyas Talpade who along with Akshay Kumar, will select 12 finalists who will compete for the title.

text: Season I[edit]

text:
Sunil Pal (Winner)
Ahsaan Qureshi (Runner-up)
Raju Srivastava
Naveen Prabhakar
Bhagwant Mann
Parag Kansara

text: Season II[edit]

text:
Rauf Lala (Winner)
Rajeev Nigam (Runner-up)
Khayali
Pratap Faujdar
Irfan Malik and Ali Hassan
Dr. Tushar Shah
Rajkumar Javkar
Saransh Bhardwaj (as a guest appearance)
Gaurav Jha

text: Season III[edit]

text:
Kapil Sharma (winner)
Chandan Prabhakar (Runner-up)
Sunil Pal
Aamil Keeyan Khan
Sudesh Lehri
Raju Srivastava

text: Season IV[edit]

text:
Suresh Albela (Winner)
Sikandar Sanam (Runner-up)
Wali Sheikh
Bharti Singh
Jaswant Singh
Rasbihari Gaur
Shrikant Maski
Ramdas Yeole
Rehan Jamlal
Sugandha Mishra
Vinod Rathore

text: Season V - 2017[edit]

text:
Abhishek Walia (Winner)
Nitesh Shetty (Runner up)
Shyam Rangeela
Vighnesh Pande
Parvindar Singh
Vishwas Chauhan
Jayvijay Sachan
Abhay Kumar
Sahil Bhatia
Mohammad Anas
Naman Jain
Sumit Sourav
Ajay Singh Chauhan
Gaurav Gupta

text: WINNER: Abhishek Walia

text: RUNNER UP: Nitesh Shetty


document_title: Why Don't We

question_text: when was hooked by why dont we released

question_tokens: when was hooked by why dont we released

text: Why Don't We

text: Career

text: The band originally formed on September 27, 2016, and announced it the next day via their YouTube account.[1] Since then, the band has released three EPs and five singles.

text: On October 7, 2016, the group released their debut single "Taking You", a track from their debut EP, Only the Beginning, which was released on November 25 of the same year. Their second EP, Something Different, was released on April 21, 2017. Its title track was released as the lead single the same day. They released their third EP, Why Don't We Just, on June 2, 2017.[citation needed] They finished their "Something Different" tour around the United States. Another single, "These Girls" was released on August 29, 2017.

text: They have appeared in vlogs from YouTuber and friend, Logan Paul.[citation needed]  The band has currently been working with YouTube vlogger and friend, Logan Paul. Logan has currently directed three music videos for Why Don't We, one involving their collaboration "Help Me Help You." The band has made various appearances on Logan Paul's daily vlogs. They have also helped Logan Paul on a diss track about Jake Paul called "The Fall of Jake Paul". On November 23, 2017, they released a holiday EP called A Why Don’t We Christmas.

text: Discography

text: Albums

text: 8 Letters (2018)[2]

text: Extended plays

text:
List of extended plays, with selected details, chart positions and sales

Title

Extended play details

Peaks

US[3]

USHeat[4]

NZHeat[5]

Only the Beginning

Released: November 25, 2016
Label: Signature
Format: Digital download

—
—
—

Something Different

Released: April 21, 2017
Label: Signature
Format: Digital download

—
6
—

Why Don't We Just

Released: June 2, 2017
Label: Signature
Format: Digital download

—
1
—

Invitation[6]

Released: September 26, 2017
Label: Signature
Format: Digital download

113
2
7

A Why Don't We Christmas[7]

Released: November 23, 2017
Label: Signature
Format: Digital download

—
—
—

"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

text: Singles

text: As lead artist

text:
List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album

Title

Year

Peak chart positions

Album

USBub.[8]

USPop[9]

CAN[10]

NZHeat.[11]

"Taking You"

2016

—
—
—
—

Only the Beginning

"Nobody Gotta Know"

—
—
—
—

"Just to See You Smile"

—
—
—
—

"Free"

—
—
—
—

"You and Me at Christmas"

—
—
—
—

Non-album single

"Something Different"

2017

22
33
—
—

Something Different

"Why Don't We Just"

—
—
—
—

Why Don't We Just

"These Girls"

4
—
82
—

Non-album single

"Trust Fund Baby"[12]

2018

20
30
—
—

8 Letters

"Hooked"

22
—
—
8

"Talk"[13]

18
—
—
—

text: As a featured artist

text:
Title

Year

Peak chart positions

Album

USBub.[8]

AUS[14]

"Help Me Help You"(Logan Paul featuring Why Don't We)

2017

5
90

Non-album single

text: Promotional singles

text:
Title

Year

Album

"The Fall of Jake Paul" (Logan Paul featuringWhy Don't We)

2017

Non-album single

text: Music videos

text:
Song

Year

Other artist(s)

Director

Ref

"Taking You"

2016

None

Steven Taylor

[15]

"Nobody Gotta Know"

2017

Logan Paul

[16]

"Something Different"

[17]

"Help Me Help You"

Logan Paul

[18]

"The Fall of Jake Paul"

Sebastian A. Guerra

[19]

"These Girls"

None

Eli Sokhn & Logan Paul

[20]

"Trust Fund Baby"

2018

Jason Koenig

[21]

"Hooked"

2018

Eli Sokhn

[22]


document_title: Colt AR-15

question_text: when was ar 15 made available to the public

text: Colt AR-15

text: History[edit]

text: Colt started selling the semi-automatic version of the M16 rifle as the Colt AR-15 in 1964.[1][2][3] The first mass production version was the Colt AR-15 Sporter, in .223 Remington, with a 20-inch barrel and issued with 5-round magazines.[2] Over the decades, Colt has made many different types of AR-15 rifle and carbine models, including the AR-15, AR-15A2, AR-15A3, AR-15A4, and many other models.

text: The AR-15 is frequently the target of those advocating restricting access to guns in the United States. Although the sale of new AR-15s was banned by the Federal Assault Weapons Ban from 1994 to 2004, Colt continued to sell legally compliant versions known collectively as "Colt Sporters" and "Colt Match Target rifles" during that period.[4]

text: Operating mechanism[edit]

text: U.S. Patent 2,951,424 describes the cycling mechanism used in the original AR-15. The bolt carrier acts as a movable cylinder and the bolt itself acts as a stationary piston. This mechanism is often called "direct gas impingement" (DGI), although it differs from prior gas systems. Designer Eugene Stoner did not consider the AR-15 to be a conventional direct impingement mechanism, but that is how it came to be characterized.[5]

text: Gas is tapped from the barrel as the bullet moves past a gas port located above the rifle's front sight base. The gas expands into the port and down a gas tube, located above the barrel that runs from the front sight base into the AR-15's upper receiver. Here, the gas tube protrudes into a "gas key" (bolt carrier key), which accepts the gas and funnels it into the bolt carrier. [6]

text: At this point, the bolt is locked into the barrel extension by locking lugs, so the expanding gas forces the bolt carrier backward a short distance. As the bolt carrier moves toward the butt of the gun, the bolt cam pin, riding in a slot on the bolt carrier, forces the bolt to rotate and thus unlocks it from the barrel extension. Once the bolt is fully unlocked it begins its rearward movement along with the bolt carrier. The bolt's rearward motion extracts the empty cartridge case from the chamber. As soon as the neck of the case clears the barrel extension, the bolt's spring-loaded ejector forces it out the ejection port in the side of the upper receiver.

text: Behind the bolt carrier is a plastic or metal buffer, which rests in line with a return spring. The buffer spring begins to push the bolt carrier and bolt back toward the chamber once it is compressed sufficiently. A groove machined into the upper receiver guides the bolt cam pin and prevents it and the bolt from rotating into a closed position. The bolt's locking lugs push a fresh round from the magazine as the bolt moves forward. The round is guided by feed ramps into the chamber. As the bolt's locking lugs move past the barrel extension, the cam pin twists into a pocket milled into the upper receiver. This twisting action follows the groove cut into the carrier and forces the bolt to twist and "lock" into the barrel extension.

text: Features[edit]

text: Upper receivers[edit]

text: The upper receiver incorporates the fore stock, the charging handle, the forward assist, the gas operating system, the barrel, the bolt and bolt carrier assembly. AR-15s employ a modular design. Thus one upper receiver can quickly and easily be substituted for another. Upper receivers are available with barrels of different weights, lengths, calibers, and rail systems with various sights and accessories. The standard AR-15 rifle uses a 20" barrel. Although, both shorter 16" carbine barrels and longer 24" target barrels are also available.

text: Early models had barrels with a 1:12 rate of twist for the original 223 Remington, 55 grain (3.6 g) bullets. Current models have barrels with a 1:9 or 1:7 twist rate for the 5.56×45mm NATO, 62 grain (4 g) bullets.

text: Lower receivers[edit]

text: The lower receiver incorporates the magazine well, the pistol grip, the buttstock, the buffer and the buffer spring. The lower receiver also contains the trigger, disconnector, hammer and fire selector (collectively known as the fire control group). Full-sized rifles use a fixed buttstock, while carbines generally use an adjustable telescoping buttstock.

text: The early commercial SP-1 AR-15s used a pair of .250" diameter receiver push pins, identical to those found on the military rifles. In 1966 the company replaced the front pin with a paired nut and screw hinge using a .315" diameter pin to prevent shooters from being able to change receivers with military rifles or competitor rifles without the use of an adapter. They resumed production with the smaller and standardized .250" pin in the mid-1990s.[7]

text: Sights[edit]

text: The AR-15's most distinctive ergonomic feature is the carrying handle and rear sight assembly on top of the receiver. This is a by-product of the original ArmaLite design, where the carry handle served to protect the charging handle.[8] As the line of sight is 2.5 in (63.5 mm) over the bore, the AR-15 has an inherent parallax problem. At closer ranges (typically inside 15–20 meters), the shooter must compensate by aiming high to place shots where desired. The standard AR-15 rifle has a 500 mm (19.75 inches) sight radius.[9] The AR-15 uses an L-type flip, aperture rear sight and it is adjustable with two settings, 0 to 300 meters and 300 to 400 meters.[10] The front sight is a post adjustable for elevation. The rear sight can be adjusted for windage. The sights can be adjusted with a bullet tip or pointed tool. The AR-15 can also mount a scope on the carrying handle. With the advent of the AR-15A2, a new fully adjustable rear sight was added, allowing the rear sight to be dialed in for specific range settings between 300 and 800 meters and to allow windage adjustments without the need of a tool or cartridge.[11] Current versions such as AR-15A4 have a detachable carrying handle and use Picatinny rails, which allows for the use of various scopes and sighting devices.

text: Muzzle devices[edit]

text: Colt AR-15 rifles most often have a barrel threaded in 1⁄2"-28 threads to incorporate the use of a muzzle device such as a flash suppressor, sound suppressor or muzzle brake. The initial design, the "duckbill," had three tines or prongs and was prone to breakage and getting entangled in vegetation. The design was later changed to close the end to avoid this problem. Eventually, on the A2 version of the rifle, the bottom port was closed to reduce muzzle climb and prevent dust from rising when the rifle was fired in the prone position.[12] For these reasons, the US military declared this muzzle device a compensator, but it is more commonly known as the "GI", "A2", or "Birdcage" muzzle device.[13] The standard AR15 muzzle device conforms to the STANAG dimensional requirements for firing 22mm rifle grenades.

text: Magazines[edit]

text: The Colt AR-15 uses 20- or 30-round staggered-column detachable box magazines. Low-capacity 5- or 10-round magazines are also available to comply with legal restrictions, for hunting, for benchrest shooting or where a larger magazine can be inconvenient.

text: AR-15 style rifle[edit]

text: After Colt's patents expired in 1977,[14] other manufacturers began to copy the Colt AR-15 rifle's design. However, the term "AR-15" is a Colt registered trademark and Colt only uses the term to refer to its line of semi-automatic rifles. Therefore, other manufacturers began to market their generic AR-15s under separate designations, although these are all frequently referred to as AR-15s, as are some rifles and carbines that are not even based on the AR-15 design.[15]

text: AR-15 style rifles are available in a wide range of configurations and calibers from a large number of manufacturers. These configurations range from standard full-sizes rifles with 20-inch barrels, to short carbine-length models with 16-inch barrels, adjustable length stocks and optical sights, to long range target models with 24-inch barrels, bipods and high-powered scopes. These rifles may also have short-stroke gas piston system, forgoing the direct gas system standard in AR-15 rifles. These calibers include the 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.7×28mm, 6.8mm Remington SPC, .300 Blackout, 9×19mm Parabellum and .458 SOCOM to name a few.[16][17]

text: Port Arthur massacre[edit]

text: Following the use of a Colt AR-15 in the Port Arthur massacre, the National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996 was enacted in Australia, restricting the private ownership of high capacity semi-automatic rifles.[18][19][20]

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
Complete AR-15A2 rifle set with manual, 5.56mm ammo and magazines

AR-15 cleaning kit stowed in buttstock


document_title: Lincoln Memorial

question_text: when did construction begin on the lincoln memorial

text: Lincoln Memorial

text: History[edit]

text: The first public memorial to Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., was a statue by Lot Flannery erected in front of the District of Columbia City Hall in 1868, three years after Lincoln's assassination.[4][5] Demands for a fitting national memorial had been voiced since the time of Lincoln's death. In 1867, Congress passed the first of many bills incorporating a commission to erect a monument for the sixteenth president. An American sculptor, Clark Mills, was chosen to design the monument. His plans reflected the nationalistic spirit of the time, and called for a 70-foot (21 m) structure adorned with six equestrian and 31 pedestrian statues of colossal proportions, crowned by a 12-foot (3.7 m) statue of Abraham Lincoln. Subscriptions for the project were insufficient.[6]

text: The matter lay dormant until the start of the 20th century, when, under the leadership of Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois, six separate bills were introduced in Congress for the incorporation of a new memorial commission. The first five bills, proposed in the years 1901, 1902, and 1908, met with defeat because of opposition from Speaker Joe Cannon. The sixth bill (Senate Bill 9449), introduced on December 13, 1910, passed. The Lincoln Memorial Commission had its first meeting the following year and U.S. President William H. Taft was chosen as the commission's president. Progress continued at a steady pace and by 1913 Congress had approved of the Commission's choice of design and location.[6]

text: There were questions regarding the commission's plan. Many thought that architect Henry Bacon's Greek temple design was far too ostentatious for a man of Lincoln's humble character. Instead they proposed a simple log cabin shrine. The site too did not go unopposed. The recently reclaimed land in West Potomac Park was seen by many to be either too swampy or too inaccessible. Other sites, such as Union Station, were put forth. The Commission stood firm in its recommendation, feeling that the Potomac Park location, situated on the Washington Monument-Capitol axis, overlooking the Potomac River and surrounded by open land, was ideal. Furthermore, the Potomac Park site had already been designated in the McMillan Plan of 1901 to be the location of a future monument comparable to that of the Washington Monument.[6][7]

text: With Congressional approval and a $300,000 allocation, the project got underway. On February 12, 1914, a dedication ceremony was conducted and the following month the actual construction began. Work progressed steadily according to schedule. Some changes were made to the plan. The statue of Lincoln, originally designed to be 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, was enlarged to 19 feet (5.8 m) to prevent it from being overwhelmed by the huge chamber. As late as 1920, the decision was made to substitute an open portal for the bronze and glass grille which was to have guarded the entrance. Despite these changes, the Memorial was finished on schedule. Commission president William H. Taft – who was then Chief Justice of the United States – dedicated the Memorial on May 30, 1922 and presented it to President Warren G. Harding, who accepted it on behalf of the American people. Lincoln's only surviving son, 78-year-old Robert Todd Lincoln, was in attendance.[8]

text: The Memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.[9]

text: Exterior[edit]

text: The exterior of the Memorial echoes a classic Greek temple and features Yule marble from Colorado. The structure measures 189.7 by 118.5 feet (57.8 by 36.1 m) and is 99 feet (30 m) tall. It is surrounded by a peristyle of 36 fluted Doric columns, one for each of the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death, and two columns in-antis at the entrance behind the colonnade. The columns stand 44 feet (13 m) tall with a base diameter of 7.5 feet (2.3 m). Each column is built from 12 drums including the capital. The columns, like the exterior walls and facades, are inclined slightly toward the building's interior. This is to compensate for perspective distortions which would otherwise make the memorial appear to bulge out at the top when compared with the bottom, a common feature of Ancient Greek architecture.[10]

text: Above the colonnade, inscribed on the frieze, are the names of the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death and the dates in which they entered the Union.[Note 1] Their names are separated by double wreath medallions in bas-relief. The cornice is composed of a carved scroll regularly interspersed with projecting lions' heads and ornamented with palmetto cresting along the upper edge. Above this on the attic frieze are inscribed the names of the 48 states present at the time of the Memorial's dedication. A bit higher is a garland joined by ribbons and palm leaves, supported by the wings of eagles. All ornamentation on the friezes and cornices was done by Ernest C. Bairstow.[10]

text: The Memorial is anchored in a concrete foundation, 44 to 66 feet (13 to 20 m) in depth, constructed by M. F. Comer and Company and the National Foundation and Engineering Company, and is encompassed by a 187-by-257-foot (57 by 78 m) rectangular granite retaining wall measuring 14 feet (4.3 m) in height.[10]

text: Leading up to the shrine on the east side are the main steps. Beginning at the edge of the Reflecting Pool, the steps rise to the Lincoln Memorial Circle roadway surrounding the edifice, then to the main portal, intermittently spaced with a series of platforms. Flanking the steps as they approach the entrance are two buttresses each crowned with an 11-foot (3.4 m) tall tripod carved from pink Tennessee marble[10] by the Piccirilli Brothers.[11]

text: Interior[edit]

text: The Memorial's interior is divided into three chambers by two rows of four Ionic columns, each 50 feet (15 m) tall and 5.5 feet (1.7 m) across at their base. The central chamber, housing the statue of Lincoln, is 60 feet wide, 74 feet deep, and 60 feet high.[12] The north and south chambers display carved inscriptions of Lincoln's second inaugural address and his Gettysburg Address.[Note 2] Bordering these inscriptions are pilasters ornamented with fasces, eagles, and wreaths. The inscriptions and adjoining ornamentation are by Evelyn Beatrice Longman.[10]

text: The Memorial is replete with symbolic elements. The 36 columns represent the states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's death; the 48 stone festoons above the columns represent the 48 states in 1922. Inside, each inscription is surmounted by a 60-by-12-foot (18.3 by 3.7 m) mural by Jules Guerin portraying principles seen as evident in Lincoln's life: Freedom, Liberty, Immortality, Justice, and the Law on the south wall; Unity, Fraternity, and Charity on the north. Cypress trees, representing Eternity, are in the murals' backgrounds. The murals' paint incorporated kerosene and wax to protect the exposed artwork from fluctuations in temperature and moisture.[13]

text: The ceiling consists of bronze girders ornamented with laurel and oak leaves. Between these are panels of Alabama marble, saturated with paraffin to increase translucency. But feeling that the statue required even more light, Bacon and French designed metal slats for the ceiling to conceal floodlights, which could be modulated to supplement the natural light; this modification was installed in 1929. The one major alteration since was the addition of a handicapped elevator in the 1970s.[13]

text: Statue[edit]

text:
IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER

Epitaph by Royal Cortissoz

text: Lying between the north and south chambers is the central hall containing the solitary figure of Lincoln sitting in contemplation. The statue was carved by the Piccirilli Brothers under the supervision of the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, and took four years to complete. The statue, originally intended to be only 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, was, on further consideration, enlarged so that it finally stood 19 feet (5.8 m) tall from head to foot, the scale being such that if Lincoln were standing, he would be 28 feet (8.5 m) tall. The widest span of the statue corresponds to its height. Of Georgia white marble, it weighs 175 short tons (159 t) and was shipped in twenty-eight pieces.[13]

text: The statue rests upon an oblong pedestal of Tennessee marble 10 feet (3.0 m) high, 16 feet (4.9 m) wide, and 17 feet (5.2 m) deep. Directly beneath this lies a platform of Tennessee marble about 34.5 feet (10.5 m) long, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, and 6.5 inches (0.17 m) high. Lincoln's arms rest on representations of Roman fasces, a subtle touch that associates the statue with the Augustan (and imperial) theme (obelisk and funerary monuments) of the Washington Mall.[14] The statue is discretely bordered by two pilasters, one on each side. Between these pilasters, and above Lincoln's head, is engraved an epitaph of Lincoln[13] by Royal Cortissoz.[15]

text: Sculptural features[edit]

text: The sculpture has been at the center of two urban legends. Some have claimed that the face of General Robert E. Lee was carved onto the back of Lincoln's head,[16] and looks back across the Potomac toward his former home, Arlington House, now within the bounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Another popular legend is that Lincoln is shown using sign language to represent his initials, with his left hand shaped to form an "A" and his right hand to form an "L", the president's initials. The National Park Service denies both legends.[16]

text: However, historian Gerald Prokopowicz writes that, while it is not clear that sculptor Daniel Chester French intended Lincoln's hands to be formed into sign language versions of his initials, it is possible that French did intend it, because he was familiar with American Sign Language, and he would have had a reason to do so, that is, to pay tribute to Lincoln for having signed the federal legislation giving Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees.[17] The National Geographic Society's publication, "Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C." states that Daniel Chester French had a son who was deaf and that the sculptor was familiar with sign language.[18][19] Historian James A. Percoco has observed that, although there are no extant documents showing that French had Lincoln's hands carved to represent the letters "A" and "L" in American Sign Language, "I think you can conclude that it's reasonable to have that kind of summation about the hands."[20]

text: Sacred space[edit]

text: As Sandage (1993) demonstrates, the Memorial has become a symbolically sacred venue especially for the Civil Rights Movement. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow the African-American contralto Marian Anderson to perform before an integrated audience at the organization's Constitution Hall. At the suggestion of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior, arranged for a performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday of that year, to a live audience of 70,000, and a nationwide radio audience.

text: On August 28, 1963, the memorial grounds were the site of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which proved to be a high point of the American Civil Rights Movement. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 people came to the event, where they heard Martin Luther King Jr., deliver his historic I Have a Dream speech before the memorial honoring the president who had issued the Emancipation Proclamation 100 years earlier. King's speech, with its language of patriotism and its evocation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, was meant to match the symbolism of the Lincoln Memorial as a monument to national unity.[21] The D.C. police also appreciated the location because it was surrounded on three sides by water, so that any incident could be easily contained.[22] Twenty years later, on August 28, 1983, crowds gathered again to mark the 20th Anniversary Mobilization for Jobs, Peace and Freedom, to reflect on progress in gaining civil rights for African Americans and to commit to correcting continuing injustices. The "I Have a Dream" speech is such a part of the Lincoln Memorial story, that the spot on which King stood, on the landing eighteen steps below Lincoln's statue, was engraved in 2003 in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the event.

text: At the memorial on May 9, 1970, President Richard Nixon had a middle-of-the-night impromptu, brief meeting with protesters who, just days after the Kent State shootings, were preparing to march against the Vietnam War.

text: Vandalism[edit]

text: In September 1962, vandals painted the words "nigger lover" in foot-high pink letters on the rear wall.[23]

text: On the morning of July 26, 2013, the memorial was shut down after the statue's base and legs were splashed with green paint.[24] It reopened later that day.[25] A 58-year-old Chinese national, Jiamei Tian, was later found responsible for the vandalism. Following her arrest at the Washington National Cathedral, she was admitted to St. Elizabeths Hospital, a psychiatric facility, and was later found to be incompetent to stand trial; she has since been released from the hospital.[26]

text: On February 27, 2017, graffiti written in permanent marker was found at the memorial, the Washington Monument, the District of Columbia War Memorial, and the National World War II Memorial, saying "Jackie shot JFK", "blood test is a lie", as well as other claims. Street signs and utility boxes were also defaced. Authorities believed that a single person was responsible for all the vandalism.[27]

text: On August 15, 2017, graffiti that Reuters reported "appeared to read 'fuck law'" was spray painted in red on one of the columns. The initials "M+E" were etched on the same pillar. A "mild, gel-type architectural paint stripper" was used to remove the paint without damaging the memorial. However, the etching was deemed "permanent damage." A Smithsonian Institution directional sign several blocks away was also defaced.[28][29]

text: On September 18, 2017, Nurtilek Bakirov from Kyrgyzstan was arrested when a police officer saw him vandalizing the Memorial at around 1:00 PM EDT. Bakirov used a penny to carve the letters "HYPT MAEK" in what appeared to Cyrillic letters into the fifth pillar on the north side. As of 20 September 2017[update], police do not know what the words mean, although there is a possibility that they contain a reference to the vandal's name. Court documents indicate that the letters can not be completely removed, but could be polished at the cost of approximately $2,000. A conservator for the National Park Service said that the stone would weather over time, helping to obscure the letters, although she characterized it as "permanent damage".[30]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: As one of the most prominent American monuments, the Lincoln Memorial is often featured in books, films, and television shows that take place in Washington; by 2003 it had appeared in over 60 films,[31] and in 2009, Mark S. Reinhart compiled some short sketches of dozens of uses of the Memorial in film and television.[32]

text: Some examples of films include Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in a key scene where the statue and its inscription provide inspiration to freshman Senator Jefferson Smith, played by James Stewart[33] – the Park Service did not want director Frank Capra to film at the Memorial, so he sent a large crew elsewhere as a distraction while a smaller crew filmed Stewart and Jean Arthur at the Memorial;[34] The Day the Earth Stood Still, a science fiction film in which the alien Klaatu visits the Memorial and is impressed by Lincoln's words carved there; the 2001 version of Planet of the Apes; X-Men: First Class; the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, where Megatron destroys the statue of Lincoln and then sits on the chair as a throne;[35] and the 2016 horror movie The Purge: Election Year, in which the Lincoln Memorial is shown with dead and burning bodies on the steps and the columns defaced with giant letters that spell out "PURGE", written in human blood.[36]

text: Other films and television programs which have featured the Memorial include In the Line of Fire; National Treasure, in which the main characters discuss the possibility of stealing the Declaration of Independence while sitting on the steps of the Memorial; the comedy Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, where the statue of Lincoln helps defeat the Horus warriors; the "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" episode of The Simpsons;[37] the scene from Forrest Gump, in which Forrest (Tom Hanks) delivers a speech standing on a podium in front of the Memorial facing the reflecting pool; and the 2013 film White House Down, in which the President (Jamie Foxx) requests a fly-by of the Lincoln Memorial, at both the beginning and the end of the movie to pay homage to his hero.[33]

text: Many of the appearances of the Lincoln Memorial are actually digital visual effects, due to restrictive filming rules.[37] As of 2017, according to the National Park Service, "Filming/photography is prohibited above the white marble steps and the interior chamber of the Lincoln Memorial."[38]

text: Mitchell Newton-Matza argued in 2016, "Reflecting its cherished place in the hearts of Americans, the Lincoln Memorial has often been featured prominently in popular culture, especially motion pictures."[39] According to Tracey Gold Bennett, "The majesty of the Lincoln Memorial is a big draw for film location scouts, producers, and directors because this landmark has appeared in a considerable number of films."[40]

text: Jay Sacher writes:

text: From high to low, the memorial is cultural shorthand for both American ideals and 1960s radicalism. From Forrest Gump's Zelig-like insertion into anti-war rallies on the steps of the memorial, to the villainous Decepticon robots discarding the Lincoln statue and claiming it as a throne....The memorial's place in the culture is assured even as it is parodied.[37]

text: Depictions on U.S. currency[edit]

text: From 1959 (the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth) to 2008, the memorial, with statue visible through the columns, was depicted on the reverse of the United States one-cent coin, which since 1909 has depicted a bust of Lincoln on its front.

text: The memorial has appeared on the back of the U.S. five-dollar bill since 1929. The front of the bill bears Lincoln's portrait.