1 December
Never had your balls come up in the televised Lottery draw? Sometimes it’s best if they don’t.
On 1 December 1969, a live, televised draw was held to decide who should be drafted into the US armed forces to fight in Vietnam. Three hundred and sixty six blue balls, one for each date in the year, were placed in a glass container. The order in which they were drawn determined who should be drafted first.
The Republican congressman Alexander Pirnie made the draw, with 14 September coming out first. Pity those whose birthdays fell in December, though. The balls weren’t adequately shuffled, so those that were added to the container last – and December’s were added last of all – tended to come out soonest.
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365 days is co-authored by Steve Platt and Fiona Osler
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