Lotteries Though History

�Way Back There- Lotteries are ancient. Aside from biblical references to casting lots for reward, the first recorded mentions of draw games in history were those devised by the Romans. It was common for emperors to give their dinner party guest gifts ranging from slaves to lavish villas, all awarded as door-prize drawings.

Choosing by lot has been a method of making determinations at least as far back a biblical times, with the division of the land west of the Jordan among the tribes of Israel (Numbers 26:55). According to Proverbs 18:18, "The lot puts an end to disputes and decides between powerful contenders."

Lots also appear in the literature and traditions of Greece, India, China, Japan and Rome.

Augustus Caesar � conducted the first known public lottery for a community cause, raising funds for repair work in the city of Rome.

1420�the French city of L�Ecluse used lottery to raise money to strengthen the town�s fortifications. Prizes were in the form of goods or commodities.

1466�Bruges, Belgium, raised money for the poor.

1520�Historians credit King Francis I of France with organizing the first state lottery, which quickly became an important source of raising royal revenue.

1530�La Lotto de Firenza became the first public lottery in Italy, soon followed by similar drawings in Genoa and Venice.

1560s�the English caught lottery fever when Queen Elizabeth I authorized a state lottery to restore the nations harbors facilities.

1694�the British Parliament began using a state lottery to float a 1-million-pound loan. Tickets were 10 pounds each and the prizes were in 16-year cash annuities.

1753�A lottery raised money to start the British Museum.

1755�The first case of the Lotto Mania was reported when eager ticket-buyers broke down the doors of English ticket offices on opening day.

Lotteries in American History

1612�King James I of England raised 29,000 pounds for the Virginia Company�s expeditions to colonize America. In America, the Virginia Company financed the Jamestown Colony with a lottery.

1665�The Dutch held a lottery to raise money for the poor in New Amsterdam, the predecessor of New York.

1768�George Washington sponsored a lottery to build a road across the Blue Ridge Mountains.

A lottery sponsored by John Han<snip> rebuilt Boston�s Faneuil Hall after it was damaged by fire.

Lotteries financed buildings at Harvard and Yale colleges.

By one source, there were about half a dozen respectable lotteries operation in each in the 13 colonies prior to the American Revolution.

The Continental Congress saw lotteries as a means of financing a Revolutionary Army to make them independent of England- ironic since to was "taxation without representation" that was a key complaint of the colonies. Apparently they didn�t see lotteries as a tax.

Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to raise money for cannons to defend Philadelphia against the British.

It was proceeds from the United States Lottery 1777 that paid for the provisions for Washington�s troops.