Elizabeth I held England's first recorded state lottery on this date in 1569. The queen needed to raise funds to rebuild some harbors and make England more competitive inglobal trade, so she instituted the lottery for "reparation of the havens and strengths of the Realme and towards such other public good works." Her lottery was limited to 40,000entries of 10 shillings each - too steep a price for most commoners. People lined up at the west door of St. Paul's Cathedral in London to buy their tickets. The winner's name hasbeen lost to us. The prize was 5,000 pounds, part paid in cash and the rest paid in tapestries, plate, and good linen cloth. To sweeten the pot even further, the queen offered allentrants a "get out of jail free card" for all crimes besides murder, treason, piracy, and other felonies. The total jackpot was equal to the number of tickets sold, but the prizewasn't paid out for three years, so the crown enjoyed an interest-free loan.

Government learned a valuable lesson: the lottery - sometimes known as a "voluntary tax" - is a great way to bring in some extra revenue to fill state coffers.

As Henry Fielding wrote in his play The Lottery (1732): "A lottery is a taxation upon all the fools in creation; and heaven be praised, it is easily raised, forcredulity's always in fashion."

This is an advertisement for England's first ever National Lottery. It was issued in 1567 by Queen Elizabeth I. At this time England was seeking to expand its export marketsaround the world. The lottery was intended to raise money for the enormous costs of building ships and developing ports. Tickets cost ten shillings each - far too much for theordinary citizen to afford. The first prize was an amazing £5000...

To read the complete article, see:
The Writer's Almanac for Saturday, January 11, 2020(http://www.garrisonkeillor.com/radio/twa-the-writers-almanac-for-january-11-2020/)

To read the Smithsonian article, see:
Queen Elizabeth I Held England's FirstOfficial Lottery 450 Years Ago (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/queen-elizabeth-i-held-englands-first-official-lottery-nearly-450-years-180957804/)

To read the British Library article, see:
The Great Lottery 1567 (https://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item102765.html)

For more, see:
It Coulde Be Ye! First lottery was held 450 years ago... with a£5,000 jackpot (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285543/Britains-lottery-held-450-years-ago--5-000-jackpot.html)
11th January 1569: First recorded lottery drawn in England under Elizabeth I(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aem4hitouLg)