Would it not surprise you to understand that lotteries played an important part in the funding and founding of the very first colonies in what is now the united states? King James I granted the Virginia Company of London the use of lotteries to finance not just Jamestown (the original colony of America), but in addition the crossing of the Mayflower in 1620. Lotteries happen to be a popular type of gambling for centuries, much once we use municipal bonds today, most often run by governments and metropolitan areas, and they can be traced back to the Chinese Han Dynasty from 205 to 187 B.C.

In the early days of America, records show that over 200 lotteries were permitted between 1744 and the American Revolution, and these lottery games played a vital role within the funding of roads, libraries, churches, colleges, bridges, as well as other public works. Several of the first esteemed universities, such as Princeton, Columbia University, Harvard as well as the University of Pennsylvania, got their original funding from lotteries. And weblink like future “war bonds”, lotteries also played a part in supporting the war efforts during the French and Indian Wars and the American Revolution. Rare lottery tickets with George Washington’s signature can still be found, and numerous founding fathers of our country participated and sponsored them, encouraging the public to participate. However, gambling took upon an air of immorality within the later part of the nineteenth century, as moral reforms (such as temperance, labor reform, women’s rights as well as the abolition of slavery) gained strength and religious groups began to demand the forbiddance of any form of gambling, which like alcohol, only drove it underground as card and dice games became the secretive games of choice. Once WWII ended, the state of Nevada legalized gambling in Las Vegas (with a little help from organized crime), and also the rest, since they say, is history.

In Western Europe, lottery’s history dates back to the 1400s as France gave birth to their popularity. This initiative was then by King Francis I of France who allowed lotteries to use from 1520. Seeing its success in 1567, England’s Queen Elizabeth the first established what is believed to be the first British state lottery, with the prize being hard cash along with some tangible goods, and so began the success and use of lotteries in England as well as the Colonies.

In 1744 the very first lottery was introduced in colonies like Massachusetts to overcome military debts. But it was in 1776 in the event the first national lottery was introduced by the Continental Congress. The main goal was to raise funds for the American Revolution.

Over in Western Europe, the very first municipal lottery “La Lotto de Firenze” in Florence, Italy was introduced in 1930 and offered a cash prize to attract participants, and other Italian cities followed the same path. As popularity and success gained momentum, many countries legalized lotteries, and of course now with the advent of the web, people worldwide possess the possibilities to play lottery online, in which you can find an array of sites offering betting systems and software to assist your probability of winning.