Where in the world was the first lottery with prize winnings worth over 1 million (US$) won?

gtho4

The first $1.0m lottery prize in the USA was in New York in 1970, as per this article in the Boston College Magazine. It's probably the first in the world as well (there's not much around regarding $1.0m lottery wins by country). The first $1.0m prize in New Jersey followed in March 1971. Boston College Magazine - Winter 2010 New Hampshire pioneered the modern state lottery in 1964, with a semiannual drawing to benefit education. The measure passed only after a 10-year battle in the state house, and drew vituperative comment from around the nation (was "this shabby dodge . . . the only way out" of New Hampshire's fiscal difficulties? The Reader's Digest wondered); however, the game itself quickly took hold. The following year New Hampshire expanded the prizes and increased the frequency of drawings. New York and New Jersey soon instituted lotteries as well, with New York offering the nation's first million-dollar jackpot in 1970-and the arms race for gambling revenue was on. States adjacent to those with lotteries fretted about losing revenue from border-crossing citizens and hastened to put in place lotteries of their own. During the 1970s, lotteries sprang up in 11 more states, mostly in the northeast and mid-Atlantic. They spread westward in the 1980s and to the last holdout region-the South-in the 1990s. http://bcm.bc.edu/issues/winter_2010/features/bad-bets.html With tears of joy streaming down their faces, Edward Henry, a 40-year-old, $11,000-a-year telephone technician, and his wife, Kathleen, accepted in March 1971 the first million-dollar prize to be awarded by the New Jersey Lottery. They were guaranteed $50,000 a year for 20 years. http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/13/nyregion/follow-up-on-the-news-instant-wealth.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fL%2fLotteries Jan 27 13, 9:50 AM