50 facts about the United Kingdom's #1 numbers game
96% of winners said money can buy you happiness.
2009 is the year Camelot's license to run the National Lottery expires.
13,983,816 to one are the odds against winning the jackpot.
2,000 millionaires have been created by the lottery since it began.
£19bn has been raised for good causes.
£28.7bn has been paid out in cash prizes.
14 millionaires, on average, are created each month.
£20.1m is the largest single prize, which was won by Iris Jeffrey of Belfast, in 2004.
£22.6m was split between two people, Paul Maddison and Mark Gardiner, in 1995.
£59m has been won by the residents of Ilford, making it the luckiest town in Britain.
2 of the most popular places jackpot winners hide their ticket is tucked into the pages of a Bible or into their underwear.
£125m is the biggest jackpot in European history, paid out by Euro Millions in February to three winners, two in France and one in Portugal.
18 is the most millionaire tickets produced in a single night (on 31 December, 1999).
£2,500 goes to a good cause each second.
50 veterans of the Second World War battle of Monte Cassino in Italy had their expenses paid to attend the 60th anniversary by Ray and Barbara Wragg, who have given almost two-thirds of their £7.6 million winnings away.
£7m was collected by the most controversial winner, convicted rapist Iorworth Hoare, who bought the ticket while on temporary release.
40 is the number of offenses committed since 1997 by Michael Carroll, the "King of Chavs", who won £9.7 million in 2002.
1569 is the year of the first recorded national lottery in Britain.
17% of winners have paid off five or more mortgages of family and friends.
15% of lottery jackpot winners have created another millionaire by giving a gift to a relative or friend.
13 is an unlucky number — Camelot says it is one of the numbers least likely to be drawn.
41 is officially the least lucky number, revealed after an analysis of the frequency with which numbers came up over one year.
38 is among the most likely numbers to be drawn in the lottery. The other numbers most likely to come up are 31, 25, 43 and 23.
1995 is the year that National Lottery was officially launched in Britain.
7 years is the duration of Camelot's license to run the UK national lottery.
900 people are currently employed by Camelot.
50p of every £1 ticket sold goes into the prize fund.
28p goes toward a good cause.
12p goes to the government.
5p of every £1 lottery ticket goes to the retailer as commission.
5p of every £1 lottery ticket goes to Camelot.
0.5p goes to Camelot in profit.
0p is the amount of profit Richard Branson planned to make when he launched his bid for the license under the title the People's Lottery.
208 Scots have won £1 million or more in the lottery.
2 years is the average length of time it has taken a jackpot winner to come to terms with winning the prize.
16 years old is the minimum age to buy a lottery ticket or scratchcard.
22m people watched the first live draw on 14 November, 1994.
3 machines were used when the lottery began: Lancelot, Arthur and Guinevere.
20% of Camelot is owned by Royal Mail Enterprises.
14 independent bodies are responsible for distributing lottery money.
2012 is the year of the London Olympics and the National Lottery will assist in raising funds for the competition via a series of new Olympics-themed games.
£11,157,490 is the largest sum won by a Scot, Sheila Wilson, from Glenrothes.
£3,000 in lottery funding was granted to Easter Ross Beekeepers Association under the Awards for All program in 2002.
£36m in lottery funding went to the Glasgow Science Center.
£1.4bn had been paid to good causes in Scotland by the National Lottery's tenth anniversary.
22,300 projects had benefited by the time of the tenth anniversary.
13% the drop in charitable donations recorded by Britain's charities since the lottery was introduced.
29% of jackpot winners have said that they feel under stress as a result of their win.
34% of jackpot winners buy a new car as their first purchase and the most popular brand is a BMW.
£11,000 per person in Perth is the equivalent of the lottery winnings of Scotland's luckiest town, which has scooped more than £20 million.
Until recently, a British "billion" was 1,000,000,000,000, or a US trillion. But due to the influence of the US in the world economy, "billion" now means the same in the UK and the US.
Until recently, a British "billion" was 1,000,000,000,000, or a US trillion. But due to the influence of the US in the world economy, "billion" now means the same in the UK and the US.
Thank God for that.
"13% the drop in charitable donations recorded by Britain's charities since the lottery was introduced."
This one bothers me but I'd bet the lottery was just a small portion of the cause.