Lotteries: A centuries-old form of entertainment.

Archeologists have found evidence of lottery-style games dating back to the Pharaohs of Egypt.

Keno is more than 3,000 years old. It was first played in China to fund the building of the Great Wall. In today's version, players typically select up to 10 numbers from a pool of 80 and attempt to match their selected set against 20 randomly-selected numbers.

History's first lottery with prize money was conducted in Florence, Italy in 1530. England estblished a lottery in 1569, and by 1612 lotteries first came to America.

The Virginia Lottery funded half of Jamestown's budget. Lottery funds were used to fight the adversities of early Virginia, such as disease, fire, and famine.

Early U.S. lotteries helped fund the Colonial Army in the Revolutionary War, gallantly fighting for independence from the British, by providing arms and uniforms. After the war, these dollars paid to repair much of the damage left behind.

Our founding fathers, Washington and Jefferson, depended on lotteries to fund the early development of our nation. Many churches and Ivy League universities, such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, were funded in part by lotteries.

Thomas Jefferson was a strong advocate for early lotteries. To quote Mr. Jefferson, "A lottery is a salutary instrument and a tax...laid on the willing only, that is to say, on those who can risk the price of a ticket without sensible injury, for the possibility of a higher prize."

The Louisiana Lottery distributed lottery tickets throughout the country by Pony Express and the U.S. Mail in the late 1800s.

The first state operated lottery in modern times was started by New Hampshire in 1964.

Today, 38 of our states have lotteries. They have become a vital part of each state's revenues, funding a variety of programs, such as elderly care, education, and often, economic development.

Even as other forms of gaming proliferate in the U.S., consumer support for the lottery is at an all-time high. In the 34 years since the inaugural New Hampshire Sweepstakes, lotteries have grown to serve more than 210 million Americans - about 80 percent of the nation's population, providing over 250,000 jobs and over 240,000 retailers sell lottery products.

More about US Lotteries and how to play on-line