Five Years Ago This Week (in 2016!) the Powerball Hit $1 Billion!
This weekend, the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots together are worth close to (if not just over by drawing time) a billion dollars. Can you believe it was already five years ago this week we were all trying to win One Billion Dollars with just the Powerball lottery! It was a frenzy that caught the nation hard in the dream-machine in; what if we won a BILLION DOLLARS?
Here in Rochester, we went all out. Giving lottery tickets away left and right, rubbing horseshoes for good luck, and everyone praying they would be the one (or ones if they bought with friends) to win the big payday.
Remember Making A Murderer?
Well...to share the big cash, we made our own version.
And then, the night of the Billion Dollar Drawing...nobody won the money! So, we tried again, and I even turned myself into Rochester, Minnesota's largest lucky charm (see that whole story here)!
Eventually, three ticket holders beat the 1-in-292.2 million odds and won Wednesday January 14th. $1.5 Billion dollars divided between people from California, Florida, and Tennessee.
Do you remember the numbers? I had to look them up: 4, 8, 19, 27, 34 and Powerball 10. Here's some other memories of that time...including a couple from the 7-11 owner that picked up a $1 Million because his store sold the winning ticket!
Looking Back at a Billion...
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Speaking of striking it rich...maybe one of these folks won their fortunes.