History of Lottery Online
Throughout history, lotteries have raised funds for various public projects. Several colonies used the lottery to pay for fortifications, roads, colleges, libraries, and even military militia. Some even hailed the lottery as a painless form of taxation.
The first known lotteries in Europe occurred during the Roman Empire. In the early 1600s, the English State Lottery was established by King James I. It ran until 1826. The final lottery was called the “Slave Lottery” and was run by Col. Bernard Moore. The lotterie’s ads advertised land and slaves as prizes. It is estimated that the total prize money is equivalent to US$170,000 today.
In the 1740s, several colonial cities and towns held public lotteries to raise funds for fortifications, college tuition, and libraries. In some cases, brokers hired runners to sell tickets. In others, the government sold the right to the lottery to private businesses.
The first known European lotteries were distributed by wealthy noblemen during Saturnalian revels. A town record in Ghent, Belgium, indicates that there were lotteries as early as the 16th century. In France, the first known lottery was called Loterie Royale and was authorized by an edict of Chateaurenard.
The word lottery comes from the Dutch noun ‘lotter’, which means ‘fate’. Lotteries were tolerated in some cases, but many people believed that they were a form of hidden tax. In addition, the social classes often opposed the project. Nevertheless, the popularity of the lotteries grew. In some cases, the tickets were expensive. During dinner parties, lottery players were often served fancy dinnerware and fanciful prizes.
By the mid-18th century, several colonies in the United States used the lottery to raise funds for colleges, fortifications, and even military militia. In 1758, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts used the lottery to fund an expedition against Canada. In 1755, the Academy Lottery helped finance the University of Pennsylvania.
Some of the first lotteries in the United States were organized by Benjamin Franklin to help finance cannons for Philadelphia’s defense. Other lotteries were organized by the Continental Congress to raise money for the Colonial Army. A few of these lotteries offered “Pieces of Eight” as prizes. Some lotteries were so successful that they continued to run for centuries.
The first US state to offer a lottery was New Hampshire in 1964. Its proceeds are used for school budgets, state pension funds, and a variety of other public projects. The lottery includes multiple draw games and instant win games. Among the draw games is Powerball. The Powerball is the largest multi-state lottery in the United States. The ticket costs two dollars and the jackpot is typically one or two million dollars. In order to win, the ticket must match at least five numbers from a pool of 70.
Other multi-state lotteries are Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, and Colorado Lottery. They are run by the Multi-State Lottery Association, and some of them extend to other states. The odds of winning vary depending on the lottery. The odds for a single lottery are one in 69, and the odds for a multi-state lottery are one in 292,201,338.