A Brief History of the Lotto and Lotto Games

[holly cecil]

In 100 BC the Chinese used a lottery to raise money for the protection
of the country as well as to build the Great Wall. Lotteries may have
been used for some period of time in this area afterwards as well, but
in the mid 1400s in Europe a lottery or raffle was held for paintings.
Not long afterwards Belgium began using lotteries to raise money for
canals, buildings, and the like. By the 1500s lotteries were being
held in Italy, and many believe the name of lottery was developed from
the Italian word "lotto" that simply means fate. In this same time
period Italy began hosting lotteries to win cash.
The 1700s saw lotteries in the American colonies and these were used
to raise money for all types of activities like construction,
financing the war effort, as well as other things. The Netherlands
also developed a lottery in this period of time that still exists
today.
Lotteries were a source of financing for many American churches,
universities, and other public buildings because there were few banks
established that could offer financing of this magnitude. Many famous
universities like Harvard and Columbia were constructed from lottery
proceeds.
Then, the 1800s saw a big change with states banning lotteries and
Canada even trying to prohibit lotteries as well. This stayed in
existence for sometime and then New Hampshire decided to initiate a
form of lottery called a sweepstakes that was associated with horse
racing in order to avoid the ban against lotteries.
Soon, the 1970s became a time for lotteries with many states like New
York and New Hampshire starting them. Hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of tickets were sold and the lotteries were very popular. By
1976 more than one billion dollars of lottery tickets were sold and
the Lotto was here to stay.
By 1999, 37 states had lotteries and lotteries were legal in all
Canadian provinces. In addition, more than 60 countries had lotteries
as well.
Today, lotteries are still incredibly popular worldwide and exist on
all continents. There are many popular lotto games that allow for
large sums of money for the lucky winners.