Lottery is the drawing of lots to determine some form of material gain or equitably distribute resources. Various types of lotteries exist, including those that award cash prizes or select participants in a competitive process for limited but high-demand items, such as kindergarten admission at a reputable school or an immunization against a fast-moving infectious disease.
Lotteries have a long history of use, with the Old Testament instructing Moses to take a census of Israel and divide the land by lot; Roman emperors gave away property and slaves by lottery; and in colonial America, private lotteries helped fund public projects, including roads, churches, canals, and even universities. Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to raise funds for cannons to defend Philadelphia during the American Revolution, and George Washington organized a lottery in 1768 to help fund his expedition against Canada.
The first recorded lottery to offer tickets with prizes in the form of money dates back to the Low Countries in the 15th century, where several towns held public lotteries to raise funds for town fortifications and to assist the poor. Since then, state lotteries have generally evolved along the same path: the government legislates a monopoly for itself; it establishes a state agency or public corporation to run the lottery (as opposed to licensing a private firm in return for a share of the proceeds); begins operations with a modest number of relatively simple games; and then, due to constant pressure to increase revenues, progressively expands its game offering and complexity.
