Lottery History

Evolution of World-Wide Lottery

Lotteries form an integral part of the national fabric of any country. References to lottery can be traced back to ancient times - as far back as the Pharaohs in Egypt. They also find mention in the Bible in the Book of Numbers of the Old Testament.Lotteries form an integral part of the national fabric of any country. References to lottery can be traced back to ancient times - as far back as the Pharaohs in Egypt. They also find mention in the Bible in the Book of Numbers of the Old Testament.

Between 205 and 187 B.C. during the Han Dynasty in China, a lottery-like game called Keno was played which is believed to have been used to finance government projects, including the Great Wall of China! References to lottery can be found in ancient Greece in Homer's The Iliad. Officially the oldest lottery in the world is the Netherlands Lottery known as the Dutch National Lottery, which was founded in 1726, and is operational even today.

Background of Lottery in Europe

Lotteries have always thrived in Europe and are believed to have begun as far as the times of Julius Caesar, in the first century before Christ. Caesar is believed to have introduced a lottery to raise funds for repairs in the city of Rome. In 1434, the earliest public lottery went on record in the Dutch town of Sluis. In fact the word ‘lottery’ is derived from the Dutch word ‘loterij’ which originates from the Dutch noun ‘lot’ meaning "fate".

The first recorded British lottery was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in 1566 and not drawn until 1569. In 1612, King James I approved the first English Lottery by royal decree, granting the Virginia Company of London the right to raise money to build a colony in Virginia, America. Over 200 lotteries permitted between 1744 and the American Revolution, played an important role in the funding of roads, bridges, libraries, churches, colleges, and other public works. In 1753, a lottery was held to finance the building of the British museum.

American Lottery History

Lotteries were standard sources for public and private financing in the US during the late 18th century. The initial financing of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania was by lotteries. Lotteries also played a part in supporting the war efforts during the French Wars and the American Revolution.

By the late 19th century however, lotteries got embroiled in scandals and mismanagement and were banned in many American states. Church-led organizations led the campaign to ban public lotteries along with the demand to ban alcohol and abolish slavery. Congress in fact upheld a law in 1892 to put a complete halt to all lotteries in the US by 1900. In 1905, The U.S. Supreme court prohibited all gambling and they were prohibited in most states by constitutional provisions for the next 60 years. No state was directly involved in the operation of a gambling enterprise.

The Re-emergence of Lottery in America

In 1930 Irish Sweepstakes were launched and met with great success in the American and Canadian markets because of the abolition of lotteries in these countries.

It wasn’t until 1964 that lotteries began to re-emerge in the United States. The introduction of a state lottery in New Hampshire in 1964 established the model for modern public lotteries in the United States. 1973 was a landmark year for the lottery, as technological innovation enabled the introduction of the first secure instant lottery ticket. Gradually lottery became more accessible and increasingly popular. In 1989 South Dakota became the first American state to license and regulate video lottery games. By 1999, there were more than 100 foreign lotteries operating in the United States.

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