With everyone talking about the historic Mega Millions jackpot (now at $1.02 billion for Friday btw) seems like a good time to look back and see just where the lotto started.
For thousands of year people have experimented with raffles, prizes and all kinds of games or contests, but the first documented official lottery was created and run by Queen Elizabeth I in 1566. The game took 3 years to pull a winner and was drawn in 1569.
They sold 400,000 tickets which at the time cost £0.50 each. That was about three weeks of pay for ordinary people back then. The grand prize winner got £5,000.
I’m sure those people would faint if they found out how much our lotto prizes are now.
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