As luck would have it, seven proved lucky once again.
Georgia jackpot winner Ira Curry of Stone Mountain told lottery officials Wednesday that she had selected "lucky" seven as the Mega Ball on her winning ticket - and that proved the difference between a $1 million prize and a $170.5 million cash payout.
Twenty players missed out on being multi-millionaires in Tuesday's jackpot because they lacked the No. 7 Mega Ball.
Two tickets in California and Georgia had the first five numbers drawn -- 8, 14, 17, 20 and 39 -- and the Mega Ball 7.
Georgia Lottery president Debbie D. Alford said in a Wednesday news conference announcing the winner that Curry specifically chose seven as the Mega Ball because "it was her lucky number."
Alford added that the other numbers on the winning ticket were picked by Curry from an assortment of family birth dates and favorite numbers.
Why is 7 so lucky? It's recognized as the luckiest number in Chinese and Western culture. It symbolizes a number of things, including togetherness, perfection,
and security.
It's all around our history and beliefs. Let's count the ways:
- There are seven seas.
- There are seven continents.
- There are seven days of the week.
- Christianity outlines seven deadly sins.
- There are Seven Wonders of the World.
- There were seven rulers of ancient Rome
- In religious cosmology the universe is made of seven heavens.
The list stretches into our popular culture:
- There are seven notes in the music scale.
- James Bond is also known as 007.
- J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series has seven books.
- 7Up is a soft drink sold at 7-Eleven convenience stores.
- Most playoff series in sports are decided in seven games.
- The number 7 is among the most retired jerseys in sports.
- The 7 series is BMW's flagship line of luxury cars.
But perhaps the biggest symbol of lucky No. 7 can be seen in a standard six-sided dice. Seven has the greatest probability (6-of-36) of any number being rolled.
