This Day in History: "Today in 1569 the very first English lottery was drawn at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. (Queen) Elizabeth’s bank account was running dry, and she could have either raised taxes, or held a lottery to fill it back up again. She decided to go with the lottery – the first ever national lottery. The tickets were ten shillings each, beyond the means of an ordinary person, which makes it different from a modern lottery, where tickets are often priced low enough so that low income people can afford them. This lottery was targeted to the upper class, and it became a status symbol in society to have bought a ticket. The first prize was 5000 pounds, which was enormous....To encourage more people to buy tickets, everyone who bought a ticket was promised, 'freedom from arrest from all crimes other than murder, felonies, piracy, and treason.' So it was literally a get out of jail free card." Source
"According to one scholar, the first lottery used to raise government revenue and offer a cash prize was held in Florence, Italy, in 1530. Soon France picked up on this innovative means of raising money, and the British crown adopted the lottery in 1569. By the 1700s, lotteries were a popular way to raise money for all sorts of projects and were seen less as a sinful pastime than a civic duty. In the early 18th century, The Independent reports, the Archbishop of Canterbury lent his good name to lotteries funding the British Museum and Westminster Bridge." Source
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