To celebrate the start of a new millennium in 2000, Prime Minister John Major’s Conservative government set up the Millennium Commission in 1993. Its task was to pay for celebrations, environmental and community projects, and erect commemorative buildings. A new national lottery would raise the funds needed once it had become operational in 1994….
Would critical software continue to function correctly beyond the year 2000? A government programme known as the Year 2000 or Y2K tackled the problem of the Millennium Bug beforehand. Funding was available. Background In the early days of computing, internal memory and hard disk space were costly and minimal. Also, the technologies available were limited. Nowadays, we think…
Get rich quickly schemes are often bogus and rarely come up to expectations. Beware false prophets and false profits! Don’t be taken in by wild claims. Please don’t squander your trust; avoid them like the plague. Watch out for misleading claims Worryingly, there has been a noticeable growth in lottery schemes marketed by pundits trying…
There were hundreds of lotteries in England between 1567 and 1826, many of them illegal. It was a national love affair in which people fell in and out of love with lotteries, but scandals and corruption made their popularity wane eventually. Estimates of the money raised by state-run lotteries between 1694 and 1826 amounted…
The decision by Camelot to play Lotto with 59 balls instead of 49 in 2015 forced me to refocus my research. Everything became more complicated as a result. I had to redo many computer simulations to reflect the changes. It is impossible to predict which numbers will be drawn in a game of Lotto,…
Here are my thoughts about the National Lottery, leading up to the first draw and slightly beyond until the first anniversary, as I considered my strategy for future play. Personal Experience The National Lottery fired my imagination when BBC1 broadcast the first draw on the evening of Saturday, 19 November 1994. Tickets went on…
The statement that “lotteries are a tax on stupidity” is attributed often to Voltaire but it is difficult to find evidence that he said that. Voltaire was an influential, satirical French writer and philosopher who made his living from writing books, plays and essays. Taxes The state raises taxes to pay for its policies….
I have been fascinated by the National Lottery since it began in November 1994. My fascination grew as I followed its progress and learned more, collecting a lot of diverse information along the way. Here, I chart my progress from the start. Genesis Gathering my thoughts early on, I concluded that I should write…
There is more to the National Lottery than meets the eye. Its workings are intricate. Undoubtedly, while huge jackpots and millionaire lifestyles grab people’s attention and stimulate interest, knowing more about what goes on behind the scenes is likely to lead to play that is better informed. Introduction I have been fascinated by the…