They won sheds of money

HAPPY Birthday Lotto! The National Lottery is celebrating 25 years. The first ever draw took place on November 19, 1994, and now bosses are launching an exhibition at London’s Fulham Palace, detailing the purchases of lucky Brits whose numbers came up. Here NADINE LINGE looks at some fascinating facts and meets two winners whose dreams came true...

NOEL Edmonds hosted the first 1 National Lottery draw. A staggering 22million watched it – around 40% of the total UK population at the time. The most-drawn Lotto ball is lucky 2 38 which has appeared 320 times. It is followed by 31, 23, 11 and 25. The biggest ever Lottery win was 3 just this month – the Euro Millions jackpot of £170million.

But the biggest winners to come 4 forward were Colin and Chris Weir, who scooped £161.6m on Euro Millions in 2012.

More than 5,500 millionaires have 5 been created since the start. Seven are being made in an average week across all National Lottery games. Winning numbers are split around 6 50/50 between choosing them and opting for a Lucky Dip.

One winner chose their numbers 7 by using a chicken called Kiev, who picked a winning line by pecking on a calculator. Sadly Kiev met a grisly end from the local fox not long after.

The largest prize to go unclaimed 8 was from the Euro Millions draw on June 8, 2012. A ticket worth £63,837,543.60 had been bought in the Stevenage and Hitchin area.

More than £40billion has been 9 raised for good causes, with around £30m raised each week.

A fifth of jackpot winners feel 10 younger after their win, 23% feel more attractive and more than a quarter have lost weight since their win.