Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sport green ribbons at President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday, Feb. 12, in Washington. The ribbons commemorated the victims of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Facts and figures from President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night:

Speech statistics
The president spoke for about an hour. The prepared text clocked in at 6,432 words, which might seem like a lot, but it's nowhere near President Harry Truman's record of more than 25,000 words in 1946. 

Obama used 1,737 different words. Here are some comparisons:

• America(n)(s): 54; Afghanistan: 4; Africa: 2; Europe(ean): 2
• our: 145; we: 122; I: 33; my: 12
• job(s): 43; energy: 18; family(ies): 18; tax(es)/taxpayer(s): 17; education: 14; economy: 13 
• deficit: 10; drone(s): 0

How many times was the president interrupted by applause?
79 by NBC News' unofficial count.

Who was missing? 
Tradition dictates that one Cabinet member skip the speech, to run the government in the event of a catastrophe. This year, that duty fell to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito also weren't in attendance. 

Guests of the First Lady 
Among those joining Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, in the gallery were:

• Marine Sgt. Sheena Adams, recipient of the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy and Marine Corp Achievement Medal after her deployment in Afghanistan September 2010 to April 2011
• Alan Aleman of Las Vegas, an undocumented resident from Mexico and activist for the DREAM Act
• Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple Inc.
• Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel A. Pendleton Sr. of Chicago, parents of Hadiya Pendleton, who was slain last month after she performed at the president's inauguration.
• Bobak Ferdowsi, flight director of the Mars Curiosity Rover (aka "Mohawk Guy").
• Tracey Hepner, co-founder of the Military Partners and Families Coalition; and Kaitlin Roig, a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Full list: A diverse guest list for State of the Union 

What were those green ribbons about?
Many lawmakers and others, including Tony Bennett, sported green ribbons in honor of the victims of the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

What was the deal with Joe Biden's glasses?
Aides said the vice president scratched his left eye with a contact lens, leaving it irritated and red.

What's next?
Obama travels Wednesday to Asheville, N.C., to deliver a speech pushing the manufacturing policies he spoke about Tuesday night.

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• Obama's investment agenda: What's already being done? What new could be done?

President Barack Obama's emotional call for a congressional vote on gun control during Tuesday night's State of the Union address struck many in the House chamber as a powerful moment, including NBC News' top correspondents, who also picked up on significant points in the president's remarks on the economy and North Korea.

Brian Williams
Anchor and managing editor of 'NBC Nightly News' and 'Rock Center with Brian Williams'

This is ... part of the backdrop of gun violence and public violence that kind of formed the backdrop for the president to come into that chamber tonight. Someone mentioned on social media tonight that immediately after the speech, we weren't talking about the economy. We were talking about that last emotional note.

Chuck Todd
NBC News political director and chief White House correspondent 

To me, it was a tale of a couple of speeches. You had a very run-of-the-mill State of the Union where he was putting together agenda item after agenda item that sounded like the campaign, that was very well focus-grouped, very well poll-tested — minimum wage, pre-K, things that people care about at home, education and jobs. And then, I have to say, the entire tone of the speech changed there at the end. It was just incredibly emotional. You don't find many State of the Unions that have moments like that. He's had to do a State of the Union right after the Gabby Giffords shooting that had some emotional moments, but that was something else, and, boy, did he put his entire weight behind guns in a way that I don't think a lot of people expected.

Savannah Guthrie
Co-anchor of TODAY and NBC News chief legal correspondent

To be crass about it, he played the best card he had in a very difficult political fight — the emotion card. Here he is in a hall full of people who have been directly affected by gun violence, and yet he faces an uphill battle. He's hoping that the tragedy of Newtown — that still-searing scar that this country has — will change the political calculus. But it's not just Republicans he has to deal with to get a coalition to enact some kind of gun legislation. He's got to get conservative Democrats, conservative members of his own party from red states, many of whom are facing re-election or are advocates of gun rights and gun ownership. ...

It's the calendar that's the enemy right now. The farther away you get from Newtown, the more difficult this task becomes.

David Gregory
Moderator, 'Meet the Press'

How does government work to make the economy better? That's the big challenge of his second term. Boy, there was a shot across the bow of Republicans tonight when, in effect, he said obsessing about the deficit (and) deficit reduction is not a plan for economic growth. ...

He said, the president did, it's not a bigger government we need but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth. And who did he mention quite a lot tonight? Apple. Siemens. CEOs. The business community.

Kelly O'Donnell
NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent

During the emotional part, where the president was referring to potential gun reforms, Gabby Giffords and her family, about 5 to 7 feet behind me, were standing — she was applauding with difficulty with her right hand. ... There was one moment where I just happened to catch it where a woman was shouting the name of a young woman and saying she deserves a vote.

Andrea Mitchell
NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent

There was a clear warning to North Korea, but it was an empty warning. Unless China jumps in with heavy sanctions, which is unlikely, there is no further punishment of North Korea that the Western allies can enact.

Related:

Obama seeks 'smarter government'

Rubio response reveals friendlier GOP

What's up with Biden's glasses? SOTU questions answered