Recent events in Minnesota have brought the state lottery into the spotlight. The lottery has stopped selling tickets 3 weeks ago, but it will resume operations tomorrow. This has given us the idea to do a piece on how the Minnesota State Lottery was born, which are the most notable events in its history and what are its available games. US lottery

Well, everything started back in November, 1988, when a constitutional amendment to authorize a government run lottery was approved by 57 percent of voters. In May, the following year, the Minnesota lawmakers passed a bill to finally start the lottery, and use some of its revenue to fund the Greater Minnesota Corporation and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Everything went well for the lottery, and instant tickets appeared on the market on April 17, 1990. Later that year, the lawmakers restructured the way the lottery proceeds should be distributed. They decided that 25 percent should go to the Greater Minnesota Corporation, 40 percent should go to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, while 35 percent would reach the Infrastructure Development Fund. Lottery results

1990 was a great year for the Minnesota State Lottery, as its sales finally exceeded $100 million, 50 percent of which was returned to the citizens in the form of prizes. From November, 1990, to June, 1991, several changes are made to lottery legislation until the lawmakers finally agree that the General Fund should receive 60 percent of proceeds, while the Trust Fund will receive the remaining 40 percent. National lottery

A new page is turned in the history of the Minnesota State Lottery in April 1992. That is when the Powerball lottery finally went on the lottery’s program and the first drawing was held. Whether it was the Powerball or something else we don’t know, but just 2 years after the lottery reached sales of $100 million, it finally reached another milestone. On June 18, 1993, the lottery reported sales of over $1 billion.

The next couple of years went without any notable events. People played, people won, just like it happens with any other lottery. But in 1995, the lawmakers decide to abolish the lottery board, and the 2 billion milestone is reached the following year, in 1996. Since then, it has been a real rollercoaster for the Minnesota State Lottery, climaxing with the 3 weeks shut down of this month.