Two decades on from Saturday 19th November 1994 when a nation stopped to watch Noel Edmonds introduce the first ever National Lottery draw, the game is still going strong, making millionaires on a regular basis and contributing an average of £33 million every week to charitable organisations and projects. It was even reported that the Queen won a £10 prize on the very first draw!
Some interesting statistics calculated over the past twenty years include the fact that ten percent of lottery winners buy more than ten cars, 99 percent of those who have hit the jackpot continue to play lottery games and films that have received National Lottery funding, including The King’s Speech, have won 15 Oscars and 31 BAFTAs between them.
In addition to tonight’s bumper Lotto jackpot and Lotto Raffle prizes, there will be a chance for 20 people who view the live-stream of the draw on the Lotto YouTube channel to win £500 by answering a question on Twitter.
The birthday celebrations will continue into the weekend, with a massive 20 millionaires being made on Saturday night in an extension of the Lotto Raffle. That is in addition to the jackpot in the main game and the usual 50 Lotto Raffle prizes of £20,000.
There’s never been a better time to play Lotto, so make sure you get hold of a few tickets which are on sale now either online or at authorised retailers, as you could be the one receiving a fantastic present from someone else’s birthday!