Many sources cite numbers spent on the sale of worldwide lottery tickets that top 100 billion dollars.

Centuries Old Practice

The practice of lotteries is perhaps thousand of years old. The earliest form of a lottery was the Chinese game of Keno, the revenues of which ancient emporers used to fund their armies and then, later, to build the Great Wall of China. Keno participants, sources say, chose ten numbers from a possible 120 associated with the symbolic characters of a classic Chinese poem. When winning numbers were chosen, message of this was sent by carrier pigeon from village to village.

More organized lottery games, most historians agree, have origins in the first Italian lotteries held during the fifteenth century.

Most modern lotteries have been instituted over the last few decades on the heels of other countries, or states, whose example of rich revenues has propelled the legalization. For most countries, lotteries are intended to provide funding particularly aimed at education, or public housing or healthcare. Some countries use the lottery funds to promote more sporting events or shore up poor government infrastructures.

Italy

Even though Italy was the origin of the modern lottery there is no indication that it has produced a preeminent version. In fact, according to most experts, the Italian lottery is a convoluted mess. There are countless versions of lotteries available to gamers in Italy, hailing from all regions. Most interesting is the fact that many Italians hang a great deal of superstition on the lottery, playing lucky numbers, even paying numerologists to give them their “winning” numbers. There are tales of Italian citizens literally losing their life savings in playing their supposed lucky numbers.

The United States

The United States history of lotteries extends back to the first English settlers who needed a voluntary means of taxation to earn funds enough to build the first towns and roadways. After this, most historians say that lotteries were generously put to use during both the Revolutionary War and The Civil War to defray the costs of armies and unusually long wars. After this, though, lotteries were prohibited, along with most forms of gambling.

However, in 1964, New Hampshire exercised its state’s right to establish a lottery as a means of voluntary taxation. It is worth noting that New Hampshire had no state tax. On the heels of New Hampshire, Canada instituted its own territorial lotteries. The New Hampshire lottery drew millions in revenues. Subsequent states began establishing their own lottery games, most aimed at providing badly needed revenue for education and transportation.