The December 1, 1969 draft lottery was held to determine the order of induction into the US Army during the Vietnam War. December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Conscript redirects here, but may also refer to artificial script. ... A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 230,000 South Vietnamese wounded: 300,000 US dead...

Representative Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing numbers.

Congressman Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first capsule for the Selective Service draft, Dec 1, 1969. ... The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C.. This photograph shows a rare glimpse of the four vote tallying boards (the blackish squares across the top), which display each members name and vote as... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ...

Method

The days of the year, from 1 to 356, were written on slips of paper and the slips were placed in plastic capsules. The capsules were mixed in a shoebox and then dumped into a deep glass jar (Shown in photo). Capsules were drawn from the jar one at a time.

The first number drawn was 258 (September 14). Men of draft age whose birthday fell on the corresponding day of the year would all be drafted at the same time. September 14 is the 257th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (258th in leap years). ...

The draft was unpopular both for its impact on those drafted and as a focal point for opposition to a controversial war. Conscription ended in 1973.

1969 draft lottery scatterplot. Note the concentration of days in December early in the draft order, evidenced by the lack of days at the top.

Scatterplot of draft rank vs birthday as determined by the 1969 Selective Service draft lottery This image is an original work by Robert Dodier (User:Wile E. Heresiarch). ... Scatterplot of draft rank vs birthday as determined by the 1969 Selective Service draft lottery This image is an original work by Robert Dodier (User:Wile E. Heresiarch). ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

References

• S.E. Fienberg. "Randomization and Social Affairs: The 1970 Draft Lottery". Science, volume 171, pages 255-261 (1971). (Cited by Starr as the "best and most comprehensive" article on the topic)

• Norton Starr. "Nonrandom Risk: The 1970 Draft Lottery". Journal of Statistics Education, volume 5, number 2 (1997). (Also available on-line: [1] Contains a lesson plan for statistics class using the 1970 and 1971 draft lottery data)

External links

• The Military Draft and 1969 Draft Lottery for the Vietnam War (News stories from the period)
• Lane, D. (2003, July 18). Introduction to Graphs. Connexions
• Frank Asaro - Astroid Impacts: The Inside Story (Mentions the shoebox in passing)