General When Did It All Start?

The lottery pools that is. Does anyone have any idea when lottery drawings first started? How long has the practice of potentially becoming a millionaire by buying a ticket with a series of numbers first begin?

I have read somewhere that the first known lottery was approved by King James. The money earned was supposed to be used to help fund the Jamestown Colony. I am pretty sure the money that could have been won was nowhere near what our lotteries are today.