Would it not surprise you to know that lotteries played a serious part in the funding and founding of the first colonies in what is now the usa? King James I granted the Virginia Company of London the use of lotteries to finance not just Jamestown (the original colony of America), but additionally the crossing of the Mayflower in 1620. Lotteries happen to be a popular type of gambling for centuries, much since we use municipal bonds today, most often run by governments and metropolitan areas, and they may 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 as well as the American Revolution, and these lottery games played a vital role in the funding of roads, libraries, churches, colleges, bridges, and other public works. Some of the very first esteemed universities, such as Princeton, Columbia University, Harvard and also the University of Pennsylvania, got their original funding straight from the source lotteries. And like future “war bonds”, lotteries also played a part in supporting the war efforts through the French and Indian Wars and also 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. On the contrary, gambling took on an air of immorality in the later involved in 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 the 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 region of Nevada legalized gambling in Las Vegas (with a little help from organized crime), and the rest, because 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 operate 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 in addition to some tangible goods, and therefore began the success and usage of lotteries in England as well as the Colonies.

In 1744 the 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 through the Continental Congress. The main goal was to raise funds for the American Revolution.

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