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158-400: The following is a partial list of games played with domino tiles or similar equipment. The most typical domino games are layout games , i.e. games in which the players add matching tiles from their hand to a layout or tableau in the middle of the table. These can be either blocking games , in which the object is to empty one's hand; scoring games , in which the players can score during
316-407: A double-six set . The first player places a tile on the table which starts the line of play. The players alternately extend it with one matching tile at one of its two ends. The main difference from the block game is that players who cannot play must draw tiles until they find one which can be played or the stock consists of exactly two tiles. The pip count of the remaining stock (at least two tiles)
474-577: A lower house based on population; and the Senate , an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while the country's political culture promotes liberty , equality , individualism , personal autonomy , and limited government . One of the world's most developed countries , the United States has had the largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of
632-580: A " Special Relationship " with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Japan , South Korea , Israel , and several European Union countries ( France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and Poland ). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through
790-411: A 9 or a "spinner". Whenever a double is played later in the game, it serves as a spinner in the ordinary sense, and the line of play cannot be continued elsewhere before there are tiles on all four sides of the double. A player who cannot play must draw a tile from the stock and may play it immediately if it matches. The second game starts with the double 8, the third game with a double 7, and so on down to
948-542: A coordinated, continent-wide military effort. Finally, deteriorating relations between the British military establishment and the colonists, relations that were already less than positive, set the stage for further distrust and dislike of British troops. Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance ; one of
1106-403: A cribbage board for scoring and the pip count is divided by five to get the game points. So a score of 10 pips is worth 2 points. In the variant of Sniff , the first double is a spinner called the sniff which is open on all four sides; in the variant of Five Up , all doubles can be used as spinners, from which lines of play branch. In yet another variant, All Threes , players score if
1264-534: A decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida . The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which
1422-453: A double may play another piece immediately after it. 5s and 3s is a skillful version of dominoes played in pairs or fours and used in competitions and in leagues. The aim is to be the first player to exactly reach a set number of points in a round, often 61. Each player has a hand of dominoes and play proceeds as normal dominoes by matching an open end. The total number of pips at the open ends (with doubles counting twice) are used to decide if
1580-546: A double- n set is found by: n ( n + 1 ) ( n + 2 ) 2 {\displaystyle {\frac {n(n+1)(n+2)}{2}}} i.e. the number of tiles multiplied by the maximum pip-count ( n ) e.g. a 6-6 set has (7 × 8) / 2 = 56/2 = 28 tiles, the average number of pips per tile is 6 (range is from 0 to 12), giving a total pip count of 6 × 28 = 168 The most popular type of play are layout games, which fall into two main categories, blocking games and scoring games. The most basic domino variant
1738-437: A double- n set obeys the following formula: which is also the ( n +1)th triangular number , as in the following table. This formula can be simplified a little bit when n {\displaystyle n} is made equal to the total number of doubles in the domino set : ( n ) ( n + 1 ) 2 {\displaystyle {\frac {(n)(n+1)}{2}}} The total number of pips in
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#17327824186581896-501: A double-six set. However, this is a relatively small number, especially when playing with more than four people, so many domino sets are "extended" by introducing ends with greater numbers of spots, which increases the number of unique combinations of ends and thus of pieces. Each progressively larger set increases the maximum number of pips on an end by three; so the common extended sets are double-nine (55 tiles), double-12 (91 tiles), double-15 (136 tiles), and double-18 (190 tiles), which
2054-407: A few prominent industrialists , largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad , petroleum , and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality , slum conditions , and social unrest , creating
2212-638: A founding member of the World Bank , Organization of American States , NATO , and the United Nations , as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council . The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan , a Continental Army aide to General George Washington , wrote to Joseph Reed , Washington's aide-de-camp , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from
2370-461: A further three ways in the shape of a chicken foot before any other open ends of the tableau may be played. Cyprus is a variant of Sebastopol, but played by 4–10 players with a double-nine set . It is best described as a variant of the Draw game . Most, in some variants all, tiles are drawn by the players. The layout starts with a double, and the next eight tiles played must be attached to it, so that
2528-493: A line in the middle to divide it visually into two squares, called ends. The value of either side is the number of spots or pips. In the most common variant (double-six), the values range from six pips down to none or blank. The sum of the two values, i.e. the total number of pips, may be referred to as the rank or weight of a tile; a tile may be described as "heavier" than a "lighter" one that has fewer (or no) pips. Tiles are generally named after their two values. For instance,
2686-442: A more contemporary look. Modern sets also commonly use a different color for the dots of each different end value (one-spots might have black pips while two-spots might be green, three red, etc.) to facilitate finding matching ends. Occasionally, one may find a domino set made of card stock like that for playing cards . Such sets are lightweight, compact, and inexpensive, and like cards are more susceptible to minor disturbances such as
2844-457: A more novel look, and the often heavier weight makes them feel more substantial; also, such materials and the resulting products are usually much more expensive than polymer materials. Modern commercial domino sets are usually made of synthetic materials, such as ABS or polystyrene plastics, or Bakelite and other phenolic resins ; many sets approximate the look and feel of ivory while others use colored or even translucent plastics to achieve
3002-525: A number of respects, and there is no confirmed link between the two. European dominoes may have developed independently, or Italian missionaries in China may have brought the game to Europe. The name "domino" is probably derived from the resemblance to a kind of carnival costume worn during the Venetian Carnival , often consisting of a black-hooded robe and a white mask. Despite the coinage of
3160-449: A number of spots (also called pips or dots ) or is blank. The backs of the tiles in a set are indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design. The gaming pieces make up a domino set , sometimes called a deck or pack . The traditional European domino set consists of 28 tiles, also known as pieces, bones, rocks, stones, men, cards or just dominoes, featuring all combinations of spot counts between zero and six. A domino set
3318-598: A period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country , which would be reinforced by
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#17327824186583476-433: A player scores points. One point is scored for each time this total is exactly divisible by either 5 or 3. So if the play started double 6 it would score 4 points as 12/3 is exactly 4. If the next player played a 6-3 then the maximum is scored for a single turn of 15 for 8 points (5 for the 3s and 3 for the 5s). If the next player were to play 6-1 the total would be 4 and they would score no points. 42, also known as Texas 42,
3634-459: A problem with the 3-3 being unpairable. Players, in turn, try to collect pairs by turning over and exposing the faces of two tiles from the grid. If the four values of the two sum to 12, the player takes the two tiles, scores a point (in some rules a point for each tile taken), and plays again. If the tally is any other number, the bones are turned face down again and the player's turn is over. The first player to accumulate 50 (or 100) points wins
3792-488: A prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism . The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality . It also encouraged open defiance of
3950-526: A sense of manifest destiny . The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans,
4108-614: A sense of American identity as well. Men who otherwise never left their own colony now traveled across the continent to fight alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds but who were no less "American". British officers trained American officers for battle, most notably George Washington ; these officers would lend their skills and expertise to the colonists' cause during the American Revolutionary War to come. In addition, colonial legislatures and officials found it necessary to cooperate intensively in pursuit of
4266-632: A status solidified after its involvement in World War I . After Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II . Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War , during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence . Following the Soviet Union's collapse and
4424-515: A sudden breeze. Sometimes, the tiles have a metal pin (called a spinner or pivot) in the middle. The traditional domino set contains one unique piece for each possible combination of two ends with zero to six spots, and is known as a double-six set because the highest-value piece has six pips on each end (the "double six"). The spots from one to six are generally arranged as they are on six-sided dice , but because blank ends having no spots are used, seven faces are possible, allowing 28 unique pieces in
4582-508: A synthesis of the Trains and Cyprus families of games, with the addition of the Mexican train. Sebastopol is best described as a four-player variant of the block game . The game starts with a double in the middle, from which the line of play takes off in four directions. The next four tiles played must be attached to this central spinner. This game, developed by James F. and Edna Graham,
4740-432: A tile from the stock. As soon as the stock is exhausted or one player "closes the game" by announcing that they will score at least 70 points, the players stop drawing. From this point on the second player in each trick is obliged to follow suit as follows: Whenever possible, a trump must be answered by a trump, and a non-trump by a tile that matches its higher end if possible, or otherwise its lower end. Scoring in this game
4898-486: A winning score, the winning player from the previous round starts the next game with any tile in their hand and the game proceeds normally. Another variant of the blocking game is the Latin American version and is played in teams of two. The stock is divided equally among all players, each having seven tiles in hand. Players sitting on opposite ends of the table are part of the same team. The game ends when one of
List of domino games - Misplaced Pages Continue
5056-401: A year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in
5214-482: Is a trick-taking game played with a standard set of double-six dominoes. The rules are similar to the card game of Spades . Originally invented in Texas, it is often referred to as the "national game of Texas". This trick-taking game for two players is similar to Sixty-Six and Bezique . Each player draws 7 tiles from a double-six set. Then a tile is turned up from the stock, and the higher of its two values determines
5372-550: Is a generic gaming device, similar to playing cards or dice , in that a variety of games can be played with a set. Another form of entertainment using domino pieces is the practice of domino toppling . The earliest mention of dominoes is from Song dynasty China found in the text Former Events in Wulin by Zhou Mi (1232–1298). Modern dominoes first appeared in Italy during the 18th century, but they differ from Chinese dominoes in
5530-630: Is a member of two suits: for example, 🀴 belongs both to the suit of threes and the suit of blanks, or 0 suit. In some versions the doubles can be treated as an additional suit of doubles. In these versions, the 🁡 belongs both to the suit of sixes and the suit of doubles. However, the dominant approach is that each double belongs to only one suit. The most common domino sets commercially available are double six (with 28 tiles) and double nine (with 55 tiles). Larger sets exist and are popular for games involving several players or for players looking for long domino games. The number of tiles in
5688-467: Is added to the losing player's remaining pip count to form the score of the game. Maltese Cross is a variant of Sebastopol for 2–4 players. Like Sebastopol, it uses a double-six set. Each player draws 5 tiles (7 tiles in the case of two players). As in Cyprus , a player who cannot play must draw one tile and may play it if possible. Once the central spinner and the four adjacent tiles have been played,
5846-591: Is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed agriculture , architecture , and complex societies . In the post-archaic period , the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern , eastern , and southern regions, and the Algonquian in
6004-406: Is divisible by three three times, resulting in three points. Double five at one end and five at the other makes 15, which is divisible by three five times (five points) and divisible by five three times (three points) for a total of eight points. An "end" stops when one of the players is out, i.e., has played all of their tiles. In the event no player is able to empty their hand, then the player with
6162-468: Is for two players and requires a double-six set. The 28 tiles are shuffled face down and form the stock or boneyard . Each player draws seven tiles from the stock. Once the players begin drawing tiles, they are typically placed on-edge in front of the players, so players can see their own tiles, but not the value of their opponents' tiles. Players can thus see how many tiles remain in their opponents' hands at all times. One player begins by downing (playing
6320-400: Is formed by a double. In Muggins, players score by ensuring the total pip count of the open ends is a multiple of a certain number. In variants of Muggins, the line of play may branch due to spinners. In the common U.S. variant known as Fives players score by making the open ends a multiple of five. In British public houses and social clubs, a scoring version of "5s-and-3s" is used. The game
6478-498: Is known as the presidential system , in contrast to the parliamentary system , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States , especially in the Americas. The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then,
List of domino games - Misplaced Pages Continue
6636-415: Is normally played in pairs (two against two) and is played as a series of "ends". In each "end", the objective is for players to attach a domino from their hand to one end of those already played so that the sum of the end tiles is divisible by five or three. One point is scored for each time five or three can be divided into the sum of the two tiles, i.e. four at one end and five at the other makes nine, which
6794-438: Is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through
6952-447: Is played with a standard double-nine set plus eleven additional tiles representing combinations of the standard values 0–9 with an additional "spinner" symbol and the double "spinner". A "spinner" matches any other value (similar to a wild card ). Each player draws 14 (two players) or 7 (three to eight players) tiles. Play starts with the double 9, or with the double "spinner" to replace it. The second and third tile played must match with
7110-806: Is recognized as an "ingrained cultural activity within the Caribbean " but is also popular with the Windrush generation (who have Caribbean heritage) in the UK. In the U.S. state of Alabama , although rarely prosecuted, it was illegal to play dominoes on Sunday within the state until the relevant section of the Alabama Criminal Code was repealed, effective April 21, 2015. Dominoes (also known as bones, cards, men, pieces or tiles), are normally twice as long as they are wide, which makes it easier to re-stack pieces after use. A domino usually features
7268-408: Is relatively complicated. This trick-taking game can be played by two or three players with a double-five set (obtained from a double-six set by removing the seven tiles showing a 6) or by four players with a full double-six set. After shuffling, each player draws 8 tiles (four-player variant: 6 tiles). The first player can play any tile from their hand. Each of the other players adds another tile to
7426-589: Is the Manual of the Xuanhe Period which purports to be written by Qu You (1341–1427), but some scholars believe it is a later forgery. The traditional 32-piece Chinese domino set, made to represent each possible face of two thrown dice and thus have no blank faces, differs from the 28-piece domino set found in the West during the mid 18th century, although Chinese dominoes with blank faces were known during
7584-449: Is the configuration of played tiles on the table. It starts with a single tile and typically grows in two opposite directions when players add matching tiles. In practice, players often play tiles at right angles when the line of play gets too close to the edge of the table. The rules for the line of play often differ from one variant to another. In many rules, the doubles serve as spinners, i.e., they can be played on all four sides, causing
7742-552: Is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues . The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act . The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in
7900-430: Is the maximum in practice. As the set becomes larger, identifying the number of pips on each domino becomes more difficult, so some large domino sets use more readable Arabic numerals instead of pips. In China, early "domino" tiles were functionally identical to playing cards . An identifiable version of Chinese dominoes developed in the 12th or 13th century. The oldest written mention of domino tiles in China dates to
8058-603: The Allies of World War I , helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers . In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression , which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with
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#17327824186588216-553: The Atlantic slave trade . The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of Great Britain , and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners . The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for
8374-549: The Environmental Performance Index . The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a separate federal capital district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions . The U.S. is
8532-500: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights , national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts ' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions . There is no unified "criminal justice system" in
8690-720: The Great Lakes , Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico . British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what
8848-663: The Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard , while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest . Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California . France established its own settlements along
9006-596: The Midwest . At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England . During the Great Migration , millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics . African Americans endured
9164-688: The National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States . Most of this land is protected , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy , air and water pollution , biodiversity , logging and deforestation , and climate change . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
9322-596: The New Deal , a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II , the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . The U.S. developed
9480-778: The Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement . In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia , the Marshall Islands , and Palau through the Compact of Free Association . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India , but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014,
9638-648: The Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law , rechargeable lithium-ion batteries , the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait . The September 11 attacks on
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#17327824186589796-591: The Spanish–American War . (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War . The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. The United States entered World War I alongside
9954-685: The United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a country primarily located in North America . It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and the archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands . The country has
10112-700: The cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites . This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America , while the other states remained in the Union . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter . After
10270-523: The end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding significant geopolitical influence globally . The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches : legislative , executive , and judicial . It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives ,
10428-537: The fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower . The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history , a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates , and advances in technology . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web , the evolution of
10586-400: The global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness , productivity , innovation , human rights , and higher education . Its hard power and cultural influence have a global reach. The U.S. is
10744-477: The 13th century and comes from Hangzhou where pupai (gambling plaques or tiles) and dice are listed as items sold by peddlers during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song (r. 1162–1189). It is not entirely clear that pupai means dominoes, but the same term is used two centuries later by the Ming author Lu Rong (1436–1494) in a context that clearly describes domino tiles. The earliest known manual on dominoes
10902-813: The 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , igniting the American Revolutionary War . At the Second Continental Congress , the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army , and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence . Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration
11060-506: The 17th century. Each domino originally represented one of the 21 results of throwing two six-sided dice (2d6). One half of each domino is set with the pips from one die and the other half contains the pips from the second die. Chinese sets also introduce duplicates of some throws and divide the tiles into two suits : military and civil. Chinese dominoes are also longer than typical European ones. Modern dominoes first appeared in Italy during
11218-466: The 18th century, but they differ from Chinese dominoes in a number of respects, and there is no confirmed link between the two. European dominoes may have developed independently, or Italian missionaries in China may have brought the game to Europe. Having been established in Italy, the game of dominoes spread rapidly to Austria , southern Germany and France . The game became fashionable in France in
11376-520: The 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état . The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and
11534-736: The African diaspora. European-style dominoes are traditionally made of bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory , or a dark hardwood such as ebony , with contrasting black or white pips ( inlaid or painted ). Some sets feature the top half thickness in MOP, ivory, or bone, with the lower half in ebony. Alternatively, domino sets have been made from many different natural materials: stone (e.g., marble , granite or soapstone ); other woods (e.g., ash , oak , redwood , and cedar ); metals (e.g., brass or pewter ); ceramic clay, or even frosted glass or crystal . These sets have
11692-596: The American West have an alpine climate . The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California , and oceanic in coastal Oregon , Washington , and southern Alaska . Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar . Hawaii , the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical . States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of
11850-475: The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government , with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to
12008-573: The District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km ). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest . The Mississippi River System ,
12166-451: The Draw game uses 140 square tiles. A small number of tiles allow the line of play to branch. Due to 90-degree curves the line of play can also get blocked in one or more directions. Dominoes Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ends . Each end is marked with
12324-573: The Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a " world war ". The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. The war increased
12482-683: The January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , many freed slaves joined the Union army . The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House . The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect
12640-611: The Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera , is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian , the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid . Many mountainous areas of
12798-647: The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion . The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Department of Defense , which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of
12956-661: The U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons , state prisons , local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities . Federal prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under
13114-464: The United States and the peaceful transfer of power , respectively. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained , leading to the War of 1812 , which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward , many with
13272-714: The United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs . The U.S. utilized the policy of containment to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the Space Race , which culminated with the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth , urbanization , and population growth following World War II . The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming
13430-666: The United States has operated as a de facto two-party system , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican . The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative . In the American federal system , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in
13588-593: The United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror , and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in
13746-597: The United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence . The Second Continental Congress adopted
13904-593: The United States, despite the usage of "the Americas " as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb. The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture , which appeared around 11,000 BC,
14062-624: The United States, except Iran , North Korea , and Bhutan . Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has
14220-509: The United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in
14378-463: The basic scoring unit, worth 1 game point. The game was played to 31 and employed a cribbage board to keep score. In 1864, The American Hoyle describes three new variants: Muggins , Bergen and Rounce; alongside the Block Dominoes and Draw Dominoes. In Muggins, the cribbage board was dropped, 5 spots scored 5 points, and game was now 200 for two players and 150 for three or four. Despite
14536-547: The blank-blank (0–0) combination. Subsequently 45-piece ( double eight ) sets appeared in Austria and, in recent times, 55-piece ( double nine ) and 91-piece ( double twelve ) sets have been produced. All the early games are still played today alongside games that have sprung up in the last 60 years such as Five Up , Mexican Train and Chicken Foot , the last two taking advantage of the larger domino sets available. Some modern descriptions of All Fives are quite different from
14694-457: The contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in
14852-556: The country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons —the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under
15010-469: The country's territory would expand with the admission of new states , rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances . George Washington
15168-713: The development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening , a series of Christian revivals , fueled colonial interest in religious liberty . For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples allied with Britain's colonial rivals , especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt
15326-414: The dispossession of native inhabitants . As more states were admitted , a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of the United States, slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power ,
15484-498: The double 0. This is an old English game, variously spelt Tiddley-Wink, Tiddly-Wink and Tiddle-a-Wink. It is the Block Game with the additional rule that playing a double entitles the player to another play. The games of the trains family are typically played between four to ten players with double-nine or double-twelve sets . In the basic version of the game, the number of tiles that each player draws initially depends on
15642-431: The double-six tile starts by downing that tile on the table and the game then proceeds counter-clockwise. Since there is no boneyard, a player without a matching tile passes their turn. A player that is unable to play is called a downed or sitting player. A less common alternation of the middle eastern game requires the player to the left of the sitting player to transfer one of their tiles (not necessarily playable) tile to
15800-433: The downed player. In this variant, if the transferred tile can be played, they have to down it. Similar to a normal blocking game, the game ends when a player empties their hand or the game is blocked. If the game is blocked, the player with the lightest hand receives points equal to the sum of all losing players' hands. A set of games ends when any player reaches a set amount of points, in which they win. If no player reached
15958-468: The duplicates that went with them. Moreover, according to Michael Dummett , in the Chinese games it is only the identity of the tile that matters; there is no concept of matching. Instead, the basic set of 28 unique tiles contains seven additional pieces, six of them representing the values that result from throwing a single die with the other half of the tile left blank, and the seventh domino representing
16116-580: The environment for labor unions to begin to flourish . This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era , which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy ; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico , the Philippines , and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in
16274-541: The federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation . The Trail of Tears (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands far to the west. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas
16432-606: The first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the " Four Policemen " who met to plan the post-war world , alongside the United Kingdom , Soviet Union , and China . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence . After World War II,
16590-665: The first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution , with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War , the country continued to expand westward across North America , resulting in
16748-416: The first tile) one of their tiles. This tile starts the line of play, in which values of adjacent pairs of tile ends must match. The players alternately extend the line of play with one tile at one of its two ends; if a player is unable to place a valid tile, they must continue drawing tiles from the stock until they are able to place a tile. The game ends when one player wins by playing their last tile, or when
16906-431: The following are descriptions of the tile 🁄 bearing the values two and five: A tile that has the same pips-value on each end is called a double or doublet , and is typically referred to as double-zero 🀱 , double-one 🀹 , and so on. Conversely, a tile bearing different values is called a single . Every tile which features a given number is a member of the suit of that number. A single tile
17064-440: The game and scores 120 points plus 5 points for each tile that remains in an opposing players' hands. This is a variant of the Draw game in which scoring happens mostly during the game. There are no spinners, so that the line of play does not branch. Players score 2 points by playing a tile that makes the same value appear at both ends of the line of play, and 3 points if moreover there is a double at one end. Another 2 are scored by
17222-490: The game by creating certain configurations; or trick and trump games which draw inspiration from card games . Likewise there are also domino-like card games, e.g., Sevens and the once very popular Pope Joan . Block or "the Block Game" for two players is the simplest basic domino variant and gives its name to the whole family of 'block games'. It requires a double-six set , from which each player must draw seven tiles;
17380-408: The game has four matadors which may played at any time, but especially when the open end of the tableau is a blank . This member of the trains family of games, similar to the basic version of trains but with an additional 'Mexican train', is played mainly in the United States . It is typically played by at least four players using at least a double-twelve set. The game starts with a double in
17538-501: The game in England were the Block Game and Draw Game . The rules for these games were reprinted, largely unchanged, for over half a century. In 1863, a new game variously described as All Fives, Fives or Cribbage Dominoes appeared for the first time in both English and American sources; this was the first scoring game and it borrowed the counting and scoring features of cribbage, but 5 domino spots instead of 15 card points became
17696-466: The game is blocked because neither player can play. If that occurs, whoever caused the block receives all of the remaining player points not counting their own. A common variant of the blocking game that is played in the Middle East features four players with slightly altered rules. The stock is divided equally on all players, each having seven tiles in hand. After drawing the tiles, the player with
17854-401: The game starts with a spinner from which various trains branch off. Most trains are owned by a player and in most situations players are allowed to extend only their own train. In blocking games, scoring happens at the end of the game. After a player has emptied their hand, thereby winning the game for the team, the score consists of the total pip count of the losing team's hands. In some rules,
18012-463: The integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state , and federal agencies such as
18170-482: The layout is a star with eight open ends . The game proceeds like the Draw game, except that a player who cannot play need not draw more than once. Draw or "the Draw Game" is one of the two basic forms of the game of dominoes , the other being "the Block Game ," and "most characteristic domino games are elaborations of it." It gives its name to the family of 'draw games'. Initially each player draws seven tiles from
18328-438: The line of play to branch. Sometimes, the first tile is required to be a double, which serves as the only spinner. In some games such as Chicken Foot , all sides of a spinner must be occupied before anybody is allowed to play elsewhere. Matador has unusual rules for matching. Bendomino uses curved tiles, so one side of the line of play (or both) may be blocked for geometrical reasons. In Mexican Train and other train games,
18486-537: The lowest domino left in hand is deemed to be out and scores one point. A game consists of any number of ends with points scored in the ends accumulating towards a total. The game ends when one of the pair's total score exceeds a set number of points. A running total score is often kept on a cribbage board. 5s-and-3s is played in a number of competitive leagues in the British Isles. United States The United States of America ( USA ), commonly known as
18644-519: The mid-18th century. The name domino does not appear before that time, being first recorded in 1771, in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux . There are two earlier recorded meanings for the French word domino , one referring to the masquerades of the period, derived from the term for the hooded garment of a priest, the other referred to crude and brightly colored woodcuts on paper formerly popular among French peasants. The way by which this word became
18802-406: The middle of the table, acting as a spinner from which the players' "private trains" branch off. An additional 'Mexican train', initially of length zero, also starts from the central spinner. Unless the tile played is a double, only one tile can be played per turn. Tiles must normally be played to the player's own train or the Mexican train. A player who cannot play must draw a tile and play that; if
18960-482: The military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw
19118-612: The most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable. The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species : about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians , and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks , and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas , managed by
19276-662: The most violent, the California genocide of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws , though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states , as inventions such as
19434-477: The name of the game of domino remains unclear. The earliest game rules in Europe describe a simple block game for two or four players. Later French rules add the variant of Domino à la Pêche ("Fishing Domino"), an early draw game as well as a three-hand game with a pool . From France, the game was introduced to England by the late 1700s, purportedly brought in by French prisoners-of-war. The early forms of
19592-550: The name, there was no 'muggins rule' as in cribbage to challenge a player who fails to declare his scoring combinations. This omission was rectified in the 1868 edition of The Modern Pocket Hoyle , but reprints of both rule sets continued to be produced in parallel for around twenty years before the version with the muggins rule prevailed. From around 1871, however, the names of All Fives and Muggins, became conflated and many publications issued rules for 'Muggins or All Fives' or 'Muggins or Fives' without making any distinction between
19750-410: The next four tiles to be played must be doubles, which are turned crosswise to form the likeness of a Maltese cross , but do not act as spinners. Matador or Russian Dominoes is another blocking game whose unique feature is that, in playing a piece, players must ensure the ends add up to seven, as opposed to the usual rule whereby the ends are simply matched. Since blanks cannot be matched in this way,
19908-447: The number of players and the size of the set. If one player does not have a double, the tiles are shuffled again. In the first round each player plays a double to start a private line of play, known as a train . In subsequent rounds, players first add a tile to their own train or pass if they cannot do this. A player who did not pass can also add at most one tile each to each of the other players' trains. A player who empties their hand wins
20066-400: The original, having lost much of their cribbage character and incorporating a single spinner, making it identical, or closely related, to Sniff . Most published rule sets for Muggins include the rule that gives the game its name, but some modern publications omit it even though the muggins rule has been described as the unique feature of this game. Dominoes is now played internationally. It
20224-463: The pip count of the remaining stock is added. If a game is blocked because no player can move, the winner is often determined by adding the pips in players' hands. In scoring games, each individual can potentially add to the score. For example, in Bergen, players score two points whenever they cause a configuration in which both open ends have the same value and three points if additionally one open end
20382-403: The player who empties their hand and ends the game, or by the player who is determined (by variable and sometimes complicated rules) to be the winner of a blocked game. A variant in which the line of play must start with a double, which acts as a spinner, is known as Double Bergen . Muggins, one of several games also known as All Fives , is a variant of the Draw game in which, in addition to
20540-493: The players has no tiles left or when the game is blocked. In the first case, the team of the player without any tiles left earns the sum of the points left in the opposing teams' hands. When the game is blocked, the team with the least points in its hands earns the points left in the opposing teams' hands. If both teams have the same points, the team that started wins the round. In a draw game (blocking or scoring), players are additionally allowed to draw as many tiles as desired from
20698-408: The policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation . An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by
20856-574: The primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen , particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in
21014-409: The remainder is not used. The first player sets a tile on the table which starts the line of play. The players alternately extend it with one matching tile at one of its two ends. A player who cannot do this passes. The game ends when one player dominoes by playing their last tile, thus winning the hand, or when the game is blocked because neither player can play. A winner who has dominoed, scores
21172-515: The rights of African Americans . National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads , spurred growth in the American frontier . From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City , and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish , Irish , and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to
21330-614: The rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua , Sonoran , and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona , carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast . The lowest and highest points in
21488-452: The scoring at the end of the game, players can score in each move if the total pip count of the endpoints of the line of play is divisible by 5. Muggins was originally distinguished from classic All Fives by the addition of the 'muggins rule', whereby if a player failed to announce his score as he played his tile, or if he miscounted, his opponent could cry "Muggins!" and the points were forfeited as in cribbage . Moreover, classic All Fives uses
21646-462: The series. There are a number of domino-like games that use proprietary tiles. This proprietary variation of the standard draw game was created by Thierry Denoual. It is played with a double-six domino set which is standard except that every tile is bent into a 120-degree curve, so that three tiles can be assembled into a circle. This allows either end of the line of play to be blocked or both ends to connect. This transportation-themed variation of
21804-573: The six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force . The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $ 916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of
21962-545: The sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor . They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933 , which created the Guard and provides for
22120-543: The states are also represented by local elected governments , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents , and further divided into municipalities . The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. . The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations . The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has
22278-460: The stock before playing a tile, and they are not allowed to pass before the stock is (nearly) empty. The score of a game is the number of pips in the losing player's hand plus the number of pips in the stock. Most rules prescribe that two tiles need to remain in the stock. The draw game is often referred to as simply "dominoes". Adaptations of both games can accommodate more than two players, who may play individually or in teams. The line of play
22436-470: The stock is empty or the tile drawn cannot be played, the player must pass and mark their own train as public, allowing other players to use it like their own train and the Mexican train. The train becomes private again as soon as the owner adds a tile to it. Some variations of the game have special rules for the first round, and additional rules to ensure that doubles at the end of trains are 'satisfied' as quickly as possible. Mexican Train can be regarded as
22594-510: The structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances . The three-branch system
22752-410: The table, shuffled and then arranged in a simple rectangular grid. The goal is to collect the largest number of pairs of tiles. With double-six dominoes, pairs consist of any two tiles whose pips sum to 12. For example, the 3–5 and the 0–4 form a pair. In some variations, doubles can only form pairs with other doubles so that the 2–2 , for example, can only be paired with the 4–4 but this presents
22910-517: The total pip count of the endpoints is divisible by 3, in Fives and Threes they score if it is divisible by 3 or 5. There are two versions of modern All Fives both of which employ Muggins scoring: one with a single spinner like Sniff which, however, must be played crosswise and does not count once both sides are played to, and one with no spinner, but the Tiddly-Wink rule that a player who plays
23068-410: The total remaining pip count of the loser's hand. The winner of a blocked game is the player with the lower pip count, who scores the difference of the pip counts. There are also variants for four players. Chickenfoot is a modern game related to the Cyprus family which begins with a spinner which is played four or six ways. Every subsequent double becomes another spinner that must be played
23226-472: The trick; if possible it must have one value in common with the lead tile. Among those tiles for which the higher value is the same as the higher value of the lead tile, the one with the highest pip count takes the trick. Each four in a trick scores one point for the player who takes it. This adaptation of the Concentration card game is generally played by two players. The tiles are placed face down on
23384-428: The trump suit. For this rule and in general, the value of a blank is considered to be 7, not 0. The winner of a trick is determined as follows. 0–0 (the bingo ) beats everything else, the double of trumps beats all other trumps, and trumps beat all non-trumps except 0–0. If both tiles are non-trumps one simply compares their total pip counts. In the first phase of the game each trick is followed by both players drawing
23542-510: The two. This confusion continues to the present day with some publications equating the names and others describing All Fives as a separate game. In 1889, dominoes was described as having spread worldwide, "but nowhere is it more popular than in the cafés of France and Belgium. From the outset, the European game was different from the Chinese one. European domino sets contain neither the military-civilian suit distinctions of Chinese dominoes nor
23700-504: The word " polyomino " as a generalization, there is no connection between the word "domino" and the number 2 in any language. The most commonly played domino games are Domino Whist, Matador , and Muggins (All Fives). Other popular forms include Texas 42 , Chicken Foot , Concentration, Double Fives, and Mexican Train . In Britain, the most popular league and pub game is Fives and Threes . Dominoes have sometimes been used for divination , such as bone throwing in Chinese culture and in
23858-582: The world's fourth-longest river system , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado . Farther west are
24016-583: The world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024 . It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council , and home to the United Nations headquarters . The United States is a member of the G7 , G20 , and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with
24174-461: The world's third-largest land area , largest exclusive economic zone , and third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and its three most populous states are California , Texas , and Florida . Paleo-Indians migrated across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies . British colonization led to
24332-444: The world's oldest surviving federation, and its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization . It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law ". The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document , also establishing
24490-553: The world's tornadoes occur in the country , mainly in Tornado Alley . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest , droughts became more persistent and more severe. The regions considered as
24648-575: Was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest . Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest . The California gold rush of 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of
24806-759: Was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty , inalienable individual rights ; and the sovereignty of the people ; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy , aristocracy , and all hereditary political power; civic virtue ; and vilification of political corruption . The Founding Fathers of the United States , who included Washington, Jefferson, John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , James Madison , Thomas Paine , and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman , Renaissance , and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established
24964-583: Was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in
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