For the first time ever, the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery jackpots have both exceeded $400 million simultaneously.
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The jackpot for Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot rose Thursday from $418 million to $445 million, Georgia Lottery officials said.
And because no one won Wednesday night's Powerball drawing, that jackpot is now at $550 million, the AJC previously reported.
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The top Powerball prize has been growing since Oct. 28 and has rolled 20 times, officials said.
Though Georgia doesn't have the best track record with the big Powerball jackpot, every once in a while, Georgians do win big: The state has seen four winning jackpot tickets since the Powerball lottery began in 1993. (Just don't compare that to Pennsylvania's 16 jackpot winners — the most in the United States.)
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Here are their stories.
1. This $116 million magazine exec in Mableton
Render did tell his boss two days later that he'd won, but the rest of his colleagues didn't realize anything was going on until the news broke that Friday, Sept. 24. Render reportedly showed up to work Monday through Thursday as though nothing special had happened.
2. This $77 million mystery in Tallapoosa
Who would turn down the chance to be a multi-millionaire?
Apparently, whoever bought the jackpot-winning Powerball ticket from the Pilot Travel Center truck stop on I-20 in Tallapoosa on June 29, 2011. The money went back to participating states after nobody showed up to claim the $77 million prize within the alotted 180-day window.
She had just finished working a seasonal job, and was looking for work, when the confused Shell Food Mart clerk accidentally handed her the $25 million winning ticket.
» RELATED: $2 million Powerball ticket sold in Georgia; lottery jackpots growing
"I asked for a Mega Millions ticket, and the lady gave me a Powerball ticket," Scruggs told local media at the time. "I just took it anyway. So I bought Powerball and Mega Millions."
Scruggs said then that she planned to use her winnings to buy a car, travel and help her family and the homeless.
4. These $246.8 million-winning Brookhaven grocery-shoppers
On Sept. 17, 2016, Heather ten Broeke, a cardiac device specialist, reminded her husband William to purchase a Powerball ticket while shopping for groceries at a Publix Super Market in Brookhaven.
"We were shocked," William, a commercial credit officer, said. "We couldn't believe it. We checked the numbers numerous times."
» RELATED: Brookhaven couple claims $246M Powerball jackpot
The two have been married for six years, have one child and two dogs.
The couple selected the $161,613,511 (before taxes) cash option and plan to use the money toward their family, travel and donations.
This story has been updated.
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