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Keno: Ancient Ties to a Big Wall

Over the past few decades, governments all across the world have rediscovered the financial benefits of local lotteries. Citizens flock to corner stores to gobble up tickets, hoping to get a piece of generous jackpots. The money generated through lotteries has become increasingly important to government budgets everywhere, providing for road repairs, hospitals, libraries, even the restoration of famous works of art.

Lotteries have always been around, helping to fund all types of projects throughout history. Belgium held lotteries in the mid-1400's to build port facilities and canals. Queen Elizabeth I created a lottery in London to help fund the establishment of Jamestown, the first British colony in the New World. And Keno helped to build the Great Wall of China.

Early in the 2nd century B.C. the Chinese designed the earliest version of Keno, created to entice reluctant taxpayers to cough up cash so their leaders could shore up the defenses of their besieged city. The game's popularity spread quickly, and the Hun Dynasty used profits from the game (called White Pigeon because carrier pigeons were used to transmit results to remote areas) to help fund the construction of the Great Wall.

Chinese immigrants brought the game with them to the United States in the 1800's. Americans caught on to the game, then known as Chinese Lottery, and adapted it for their own use by switching out the Chinese character set for Arabic numbers, which they could understand. Keno has since become one of the most popular lottery games and continues to add millions of dollars to government budgets the world over.