The origins of the Pennsylvania Lottery

One of my many duties here at the Daily Times includes a daily delight.

I get to read our Daily Page 2 feature, Other Times, before it goes into the paper.

That's where we reach into our archives and pull out items that were in the news 100, 75, 50, 25 and 10 years ago.

Today's installment included this gem:

It was back in 1969 that legislation was put forth in Harrisburg to establish a state lottery. One of the 30 cosponsors was state Rep. Stanley Kester, R-160 of Chester Township.

The Legislature gave the green light to the state lottery on Aug. 26, 1971 - yes, nearly two years after that first legislation was introduced. The Pennsylvania Lottery sold its first tickets on March 7, 1972, and drew its first numbers on March 15, 1972.

But here's my favorite part of the item. According to that original bill introduced to establish the lottery, the state would not hold more than two lottery drawings each month.

So much for that idea.

Today it seems like there are two drawings every hour.

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