Did you know the EuroMillions lottery had its first draw on an 'unlucky' Black Friday 13th
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What could you buy with a multi-million dollar EuroMillions lottery win? See the full graphic here: Daily Mail
Euromillions is one of the western world's leading lotteries and has some of the biggest cash prizes. Did you know that the first draw was made on a ‘black Friday’... one of the unluckiest days of the year for those who are superstitious?
So here’s 13 fun facts about this fascinating game that has made hundreds of Euromillions winners rich:
1. The Euromillions lottery was launched in 2004.
2. The first Euromillions draw was held on Friday the 13th of February 2004, in Paris. Everything went smoothly, you'll be pleased to know.
3. At the beginning Spain, France and the UK were the only countries taking part (shown in blue) in 2004, however they were joined in October that year by a further six countries (shown in red): Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland.
4. The Euromillions boasts the biggest cash prizes with a minimum €15 million (£12 million or US$19.8 million) jackpot guaranteed from each draw. In the absence of a first prize winner, the Euromillions jackpot rises to €190 million in the Jackpot Pool Cap. Here the 2012 winners of a £148 million jackpot, Adrian and Gillian Bayford, celebrate in style.
5. The Euromillions lottery features 13 different prize levels.
6. The odds of a Euromillions win are 1 in 13.
7. To win the Euromillions jackpot, players need to match all 5 main numbers and two lucky stars. However, matching as little as two numbers will earn lottery hopefuls a prize in the 13th tier.
8.Two Super Draws, featuring a guaranteed €100 million jackpot, are held every year. The very first one took place on Friday the 9th of February 2007.
9. A special Super Draw held on Tuesday the 10th of May 2011 marked the introduction of the Tuesday Euromillions draw, and changes to the Euromillions lottery game format. They included a further prize tier (2 main numbers and no lucky stars) and 11 lucky stars instead of 9.
10. The largest jackpot in lottery history was scooped by Colin and Chris Weir (pictured below) from Lars in North Ayrshire on the 12th of August 2011. They won €185,000,000 (£161,653,000 or US$266.8 million). It immediately catapulted them to No. 1 on the UK National Lottery Rich List.
11. The luckiest Euromillions country is France with 67 jackpot wins to date. Seven French players have scooped the Euromillions jackpot in 2013 alone.
12. The largest first prize ever to go unclaimed was a €63.8 million (US$87.2 million) jackpot. The unwitting UK player won in June 2012. But despite widespread appeals urging them to come forward, they never claimed their enormous prize. All winnings and accumulated interest from the jackpot was donated to the UK National Lottery Good Causes after the 5th of December 2012 deadline passed.
13. The 100 Millionaires Raffle held on the 27th of July 2012 set the record for the highest number of newly-made millionaires in a single draw. Here's one of the 100 Millionaires, a group of Welsh ambulance service paramedics.
SOURCE: Anna Dobson
