The History of the Lottery: From Ancient Draws to the Oldest Lottery Still Running (and Games That No Longer Exist)
Lotteries feel modern — glowing jackpot signs, televised draws, and apps. But people have been drawing lots for prizes, public funds, and decisions for thousands of years. The history of the lottery is a story of city walls and universities, royal charters and scandals, bans and comebacks.
Lotteries Were Often Created to Build Things, Not to Gamble
Today, we mostly think of lotteries as gambling. For much of history, though, lotteries were primarily public finance tools: a way for governments, towns, and institutions to raise money without imposing new taxes.
Roads, bridges, harbors, churches, and schools were funded by lotteries long before modern jackpots existed.
We call this the infrastructure origin: the idea that the lottery's historical purpose was to build public projects, with the prize acting as the incentive rather than the point.
Ancient Roots
Drawing lots is ancient. Casting lots to make decisions appears in many early cultures and religious texts.
- Ancient China: Some popular histories claim that early keno-like games in China helped fund major projects. These claims are widely repeated, but evidence is limited, so they're best treated as tradition rather than confirmed history.
- Ancient Rome: Roman hosts distributed prize tokens at festivities, and the emperor Augustus is often credited with organizing a lottery to raise funds for repairs in Rome.
The Low Countries: The First Recorded Public Lotteries
The earliest well-documented public lotteries offering cash prizes appeared in the 15th century in the Low Countries, in towns in what are now Belgium and the Netherlands. Records suggest towns such as Ghent, Utrecht, and Bruges held lotteries to raise money for town fortifications and to help the poor.
The Birth of "Lotto" in Genoa
The modern lotto format — picking numbers from a larger set — has roots in Genoa, Italy. Citizens bet on which members of the city council would be selected in regular drawings. Over time, candidate names were replaced with numbers, creating a game remarkably similar to modern lotto.
England's First State Lottery
Queen Elizabeth I chartered England's first state lottery in the 1560s, with the draw held in 1569. Proceeds were intended for public works, including harbor repairs.
State lotteries became common in England over the following centuries, before being abolished in 1826. The UK wouldn't launch its modern National Lottery until 1994.
Lotteries in Early America
Lotteries played a surprisingly large role in America's early history:
- 1612: The Virginia Company of London used a lottery to help fund the Jamestown settlement.
- Colonial era: Lotteries helped fund roads, churches, bridges, and colleges, including institutions that became Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia.
- 1776: The Continental Congress authorized a lottery to help fund the Revolutionary War.
Historian John Samuel Ezell's 1960 book Fortune's Merry Wheel: The Lottery in America remains a classic account of this era, documenting how common lotteries were in early American public life.
Scandal and the Great American Ban
In the 19th century, lotteries became associated with corruption. The most notorious example was the Louisiana Lottery Company, which grew enormously profitable, sold tickets nationwide through the mail, and faced widespread accusations of bribery.
The backlash was powerful. In 1890, Congress banned lottery materials from the mail, and by the mid-1890s legal lotteries had largely disappeared from the United States for about 70 years.
The Modern Comeback
- 1964: New Hampshire launches the first modern state lottery.
- 1970s: More states follow, and scratch-off tickets arrive in 1974.
- 1992: Powerball begins.
- 1996: The Big Game begins, later renamed Mega Millions.
- 2016: The first billion-dollar jackpot is won.
For more on the last half-century, read Lottery Trends Over the Last 50 Years.
The Oldest Lotteries Still Running
| Lottery | Country | Founded |
|---|---|---|
| Staatsloterij | Netherlands | 1726 |
| Christmas Lottery (El Gordo) | Spain | 1812 |
The Dutch Staatsloterij, founded in 1726, is widely considered the oldest lottery still in operation — older than the United States. Spain's Christmas Lottery, first held in 1812, is among the oldest continuous lotteries and one of the largest by total prize pool.
Lottery Games That No Longer Exist
Lottery history is also full of games that were replaced, renamed, or discontinued. We call them retired draws: games that disappeared but shaped the ones that followed.
The original Lotto America (U.S., 1988–1992)
One of the first major multistate lotto games, replaced by Powerball in 1992. A new game using the Lotto America name was later launched in 2017.
The Big Game (U.S., 1996–2002)
A multistate game that evolved into Mega Millions.
Hot Lotto (U.S.)
A multistate game that ended in 2017, replaced by the relaunched Lotto America. It's also remembered for a fraud scandal involving a lottery security official.
Early state lotteries in England (until 1826)
Centuries of English state lotteries ended with abolition in 1826.
The Louisiana Lottery (19th century)
Once one of the largest lotteries in the U.S., it collapsed amid scandal and legal bans in the 1890s.
Key Takeaways
- For much of history, lotteries were public finance tools used to build fortifications, harbors, roads, and colleges.
- The first well-documented public cash lotteries appeared in 15th-century towns in the Low Countries.
- The modern lotto format traces back to betting on council selections in Genoa, Italy.
- England's first state lottery was drawn in 1569, and lotteries later helped fund Jamestown and early American colleges.
- Scandal led to a U.S. ban in the 1890s, and modern state lotteries returned with New Hampshire in 1964.
- The Netherlands' Staatsloterij, founded in 1726, is widely considered the oldest lottery still running.
Quick Answers
What is the history of the lottery?
Lottery-style draws date back to ancient times, but the first well-documented public cash lotteries appeared in 15th-century Low Countries towns to fund fortifications and help the poor. England's first state lottery was drawn in 1569, and lotteries later funded early American colonies and colleges before a long U.S. ban and a modern revival in 1964.
What is the oldest lottery still running?
The Netherlands' Staatsloterij, founded in 1726, is widely considered the oldest lottery still running. Spain's Christmas Lottery, known as El Gordo, has been held since 1812 and is also among the world's oldest continuous lotteries.
Why were lotteries banned in the United States?
Lotteries were banned largely because of corruption and scandal in the 19th century, especially involving the Louisiana Lottery Company. In 1890, Congress banned lottery materials from the mail, and legal lotteries mostly disappeared until New Hampshire launched the first modern state lottery in 1964.
Where Lottery History Is Heading
Every era has reinvented the lottery — from town walls to televised draws to apps. Our prediction: historians will look back on the 2020s as the start of the digital lottery era, when lotteries shifted from physical tickets and retail counters to accounts, apps, and instant online games, the biggest change in how lotteries operate since the scratch-off.