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In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second and final studio album by the American band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records. The album is predominantly indie rock and psychedelic folk and is characterized by an intentionally low-quality sound. Traditional indie rock instruments like the guitar and drums are paired with less conventional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes. The lyrics are surrealistic and opaque, exploring themes that range from nostalgia to love. An important influence for the album was The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of writings from the diary of Anne Frank.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was recorded at Pet Sounds Studio from July to September1997. Producer Robert Schneider worked with bandleader Jeff Mangum to improve upon the low-quality sound of Neutral Milk Hotel's debut album, On Avery Island. Instead of using standard studio equipment like guitar pedals or effects units to induce distortion, Schneider developed a recording technique that involved heavy compression. To promote the album, Neutral Milk Hotel undertook a tour of North America and Europe, and developed a reputation for chaotic and physically demanding performances.

Contemporary reviews were moderately positive; over time, however, the album developed a cult following. This negatively affected Mangum, whose mental health began to deteriorate; as a result, he withdrew from touring, and Neutral Milk Hotel went on hiatus shortly after. In the years since its release, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea has been described by music journalists as both a landmark album for indie rock and as one of the best albums of the 1990s and its critical standing has risen considerably.

Background
Neutral Milk Hotel originated in Ruston, Louisiana, in the late 1980s, as a home-recording project of high school student Jeff Mangum. Initially called Milk, Mangum shared the recordings he created with his friends and fellow musicians Robert Schneider, Bill Doss, and Will Cullen Hart, and the four began producing music together. The group started branding their respective homemade cassette tapes with "The Elephant 6 Recording Co.", a then-imaginary record label which later grew into a loose musical collective. After graduating from high school, Mangum released the single "Everything Is" on Cher Doll Records under the alias Neutral Milk Hotel. The single's exposure convinced Mangum to record more music under this name. He moved to Denver and worked with Schneider to record the 1996 album On Avery Island. Although Schneider was interested in what he described as "high-art Beatlesque production," he aligned with Mangum's preference for a low-quality sound called lo-fi, admitting that "at first it was frustrating, but I came to enjoy it. That's how I learned to produce, doing that record, because I totally had to let go of what I thought it should be like."

After the release of On Avery Island, Mangum recruited three musicians to tour with: Julian Koster, Jeremy Barnes, and Scott Spillane. The North American tour in support of On Avery Island generated enough money to enable the quartet to move to Athens, Georgia, which was considered a hub for alternative rock and new wave musicians. By mid-1997, Mangum had written and demoed nearly every song for In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. He shared the demos with his bandmates before they moved back to Denver, where Schneider's studio was located, to record the album.

Recording
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was produced by Schneider, and was recorded from July to September1997. It was recorded at Pet Sounds Studio in Denver, the home of Schneider's friend Jim McIntyre. Schneider paid half the rent for access to every room in the house except McIntyre's bedroom. The recording sessions for In the Aeroplane Over the Sea coincided with several other sessions. Schneider was already producing the Minders' album Hooray for Tuesday when Neutral Milk Hotel members began to arrive, and decided to halt production until In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was finished. McIntyre was recording the Von Hemmling song "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in his bedroom while the band members played, and whenever Koster was not needed, he would work on songs for his experimental pop music and performance art project the Music Tapes, such as "Television Tells Us" and "Aliens".

Schneider separated the band members into different rooms, but always kept Mangum close to the control room in case he wanted to plug Mangum's acoustic guitar into a four-track cartridge. Schneider occasionally tried using an electric guitar, however he wiped these recordings as he felt that they did not have Mangum's distinctive sound. As the sessions progressed, Schneider wanted to find a way to record the acoustic sound into a microphone instead of into the cartridge. He decided to record the sound through Neumann U 87 microphones. According to Scheider: "[Mangum] liked an acoustic plugged in because he kinda found it fuzzy and raw, like an electric guitar, but it had a strummy quality to it, too ... I had developed an acoustic guitar sound on my own that he was really happy with by the second record, and I think it's really good."

Neutral Milk Hotel biographer Kim Cooper believes In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of the most heavily distorted albums ever made, but also notes the lack of equipment such as Big Muffs or distortion pedals. Mangum liked having a layer of distortion over the music, but Schneider decided to not use standard effects equipment. Instead, Schneider used heavy compression and placed a Bellari RP-220 tube preamplifier close to his guitar. Schneider then ran the sound through a mixing console and maximised the sound on a cassette tape. This process was done for nearly every instrument used on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Schneider claimed that the nonlinearities of microphone distortion gave the album its unique "warm" quality.

The horn arrangements were primarily written by Schneider. He wrote these parts on a piano or organ, then conferred with trombonist Rick Benjamin to ensure the musical notation was correct. Spillane was the last band member to arrive, so Schneider showed him the arrangements he had already written. The trumpets were written in treble clef, but as Spillane could only read bass clef, he had to rewrite these arrangements before he could learn them. As he did while learning the songs for On Avery Island, Spillane spent hours every day practicing and writing more arrangements in the basement. Toward the end of the recording sessions, Schneider and Spillane worked together to combine their differing arrangements. Schneider's parts were more melancholic while Spillane wrote chaotic and boisterous parts.

Music
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is difficult to categorize into a specific genre. Critics generally describe it as indie rock and psychedelic folk with a lo-fi sound, but also note the wide range of influences, including Eastern European choral music, Canterbury Sound, circus music, musique concrète, drone music, free jazz, and Tropicália. Jason Ankeny of AllMusic compared the album to a "marching band on an acid trip", while Kim Cooper wrote: "the music is like nothing else in the 90s underground". Part of the musical variance comes from the instruments used on the album. Traditional indie rock instruments like the guitar and drums are paired with less conventional instruments like the shortwave radio, singing saw, and uilleann pipes.

Jeff Mangum's guitars are a key component for much of the album. Mangum often plays simple chord progressions, which Erik Himmelsbach of Spin compared to the '50s progression. Other important aspects to the music include the heavy amount of distortion, as well as the multitrack recording method Schneider used for the majority of the instruments. Ankeny described In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as having a greater emphasis on structure and texture; he further noted that, like On Avery Island, "the songs run continuously together". The overall sound of the album sometimes abruptly shifts from track to track. Rolling Stone noted the range of musical styles present, such as slow funeral marches and fast-paced punk rock. Critic Chris DeVille wrote: "On the musical axis, Neutral Milk Hotel veered from piercingly intimate psychedelic campfire sing-alongs to full-band segments that barreled ahead with haphazard grace."

Lyrics
Mangum wrote the lyrics for every track on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The lyrics are surreal and often reference seemingly unrelated subject matter. Cooper cites the opening track "King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. One" as an example of this style of songwriting. While the lyrics are about childhood fantasies, there are references to sexual awakenings, domestic violence, religious fanaticism, and tarot card readings. Fans and journalists have long argued over the exact meaning of the album. Some listeners believe there is a central message found throughout the lyrics, while other listeners believe the album is too abstract to derive meaning from. DeVille said: "[In the Aeroplane Over the Sea] collides the familiar and the disorienting in a way that renders meaning elusive even as it provokes intense emotional reckoning."

Common lyrical themes include childhood and nostalgia. Pitchfork Mark Richardson wrote that the lyrics are written with childlike wonder, in which mundane interactions are illustrated as fantastical moments, stating, "It's like a children's book or a fairy tale, Where the Wild Things Are on wax." Mangum's lyrics have also been seen as a depiction of adolescence, and the need to develop one's own identity. Some critics have compared the album to a coming-of-age story. Mangum's descriptions of these experiences evoke a sense of nostalgia. According to Richardson: "it's an album of memories and associations, how skin feels against the grass and what passes through your mind the first time you realize your own powerlessness. It puts ultimate faith in raw feelings, the kind that consume you without logic or sense."

Love is another prominent lyrical theme, although this concept takes on different forms. P. J. Sauerteig of PopMatters believes In the Aeroplane Over the Sea central message is Mangum's longing desire to be loved by the people he idolizes, whether that be a love interest or his peers. The lyrics sometimes describe how Mangum wants to physically merge with the things he loves, which symbolizes a need for interconnectedness with loved ones. Sauerteig cites the track "Two-Headed Boy" as an example of this concept. The track describes conjoined twins, although Sauerteig believes they are a metaphor for two people who unsuccessfully merged into one body and, as a result, feel like they are trapped in an interdependent relationship.

Although there is little concrete information as to the genesis of some of the lyrics, Mangum has stated a major influence was Anne Frank, a teenage girl who died in a Nazi concentration camp. Before recording On Avery Island, Mangum read The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of writings from Frank's diary that she kept while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. He was deeply affected by the book and spent, in his own words, "about three days crying", having dreams of traveling back in time and saving her. Tracks such as "Holland,1945" and "Ghost" incorporate elements of Anne Frank's life into the lyrics. As a result, some listeners have labeled In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as a concept album. However, Frank's importance to the lyrics is a subject of debate. Some critics argue she is merely an inspiration for some of the tracks, as opposed to an important character within a narrative arc. Writing about the Anne Frank connection, Anwen Crawford of The Monthly said: "It would be overly literal ... to describe In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as an album about the Holocaust, for Frank is only one of many phantasms to populate a set of looping, interlinked narratives that proceed with the closed logic of a dream or a religious vision."

Artwork
The front cover contains a drawing of four bathers out at sea in what is presumed to be the early 1900s. Three are swimming in the water while one, who is wearing a red dress and has a drumhead instead of a face, sits atop a dock. The back cover shows a drawing of marching band members wearing stilts, led by a short bandmaster. Both illustrations were created by Chris Bilheimer, who at the time was designing artwork for the band R.E.M. Mangum met Bilheimer while living in Athens, and asked him to create the artwork for Neutral Milk Hotel's upcoming album. Mangum was interested in imagery associated with early 20th century penny arcades, and would often buy postcards from thrift shops that featured this style. One postcard in particular featured three bathers at sea, which Bilheimer cropped and slightly altered to form the album cover.

In addition to Bilheimer's drawings, New York multimedia artist Brian Dewan created the interior artwork found within physical copies of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Dewan's best-known piece for the album is a black and white sketch of a flying phonograph over an industrial plant. Dewan had previously been commissioned by Koster to make the artwork for the Music Tapes demos. When Mangum asked Dewan for artwork, he was provided with two sketches: a magic radio, and a flying phonograph, the latter of which was chosen. To give the disparate drawings a cohesive look, Bilheimer scanned the back of the postcard and overlaid the images over it, which made the drawings look the same age, with an effect of slow decay. Bilheimer then splashed dirt on the album cover just above the female character's outstretched arm.

Release and tour
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was released in the United States on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records, and in the United Kingdom in May1998 by The Blue Rose Record Company. Merge pressed 5,500 CD and 1,600 vinyl copies, and expected sales to be similar to On Avery Island, which had sold around 5,000 copies. These initial projections were correct, as the album sold moderately well for the first few months. The song "Holland,1945" was released as a 7" single on October 13, 1998.

To promote the album, Neutral Milk Hotel embarked on a tour of North America and Europe. Musicians John Fernandes and Will Westbrook were brought on as touring members, and were taught how to play the horn parts with Spillane. For the tour, Mangum wanted the band to learn how to play the Charlie Haden track "Song for Che", a difficult improvisational jazz piece. Although Mangum was expecting a lot out of the newly expanded band, many outsiders noted how caring and nurturing he was toward everyone involved. Filmmaker Lance Bangs said: "He wasn't any kind of a taskmaster—never turning and glaring at anybody—it was never like that. Clearly, there was a love of his circle of friends that made it important for him to build this community and bring them along with him."

While on tour, Neutral Milk Hotel gained a reputation for chaotic and physically demanding concerts. Great Lakes member Ben Crum recalled: "It was definitely dangerous. There often seemed to be a very real chance that someone, probably Julian, would get hurt. Jeff was always doing things like picking him up and throwing him into the drums." The audio technicians for most venues were confused and did not know what to expect. As a result, Laura Carter took on the unusual role of "mix-board translator". According to Carter: "It was more like talking them through what was about to happen, because so much was happening onstage that without someone helping, it was a wail or squeal and the soundman would look at twenty instruments onstage and not know what to dive for."

Initial reception
Initial critical responses to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea were moderately positive. In Spin, Erik Himmelsbach wrote that Neutral Milk Hotel's psychedelic, folk-infused music had set them apart from the indie-pop sound of fellow Elephant 6 bands the Olivia Tremor Control and the Apples in Stereo. Rob Brunner of Entertainment Weekly praised the "oddball" instrumentation and "bouncy pop melodies", but described some of the acoustic songs as "lifeless acoustic warblers". Pitchfork M. Christian McDermott also commended the music, which he called a blend of "Sgt. Pepper with early 90s lo-fi" that he found "as catchy as it is frightening". Ben Ratliff of Rolling Stone was more critical of the music. He felt the rhythms and chord changes were boring, while the heavy layer of distortion masked the absence of decent melodies. Ratliff ultimately summarized his review by writing: "Aeroplane is thin-blooded, woolgathering stuff."

The lyrics drew critical attention. Dele Fadele of NME described the lyrics as "evocative" and "compelling". Both Himmelsbach and Ratliff noted the semireligious undertones. Himmelsbach described the lyrics as "darkly comedic and wonderfully wide-eyed", and commended the stream of consciousness style of songwriting. McDermott also discussed the dark lyrics, and wrote: "[Mangum] inherits a world of cannibalism, elastic sexuality and freaks of nature. We can only assume he likes it there."

CMJ New Music Monthly ranked In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as the number one album of 1998, and it placed 15th in the Village Voice annual Pazz & Jop poll of American music critics. Despite the album's generally positive reception, it was dismissed by critics shortly after its release. In a year-end column accompanying the Pazz & Jop, Robert Christgau dismissed the album as "a funereal jape that gets my goat". In a 2016 article, journalist Luke Winkie said the initial reception was "the standard response to a confusing second album from a band without a preexisting pedigree: distant praise, hedged bets, avoiding the heart at all cost".

Breakup and Mangum's reclusion
After the album's release, Neutral Milk Hotel's heightened profile had a negative effect on Mangum. In a 2002 interview, Mangum said that "a lot of the basic assumptions [he] held about reality started crumbling". He would sometimes shut himself inside his home for days on end, and hoarded rice in preparation for the possible Y2K problem. Some journalists have speculated he became tired of touring and constantly explaining his lyrics to fans; Elephant6 biographer Adam Clair believes he may have been overwhelmed by the way fans viewed his music, and the high expectations placed upon any subsequent recordings. Regardless of the reason, Mangum decided that he could not continue performing, and preferred to disappear from the public eye. He did not inform the band, finding it impossible to justify a breakup immediately after their first genuine success, especially since some of them had quit their jobs to join Neutral Milk Hotel. Instead, he avoided the topic of new music altogether and increasingly isolated himself. The situation resulted in the unspoken, unannounced breakup of Neutral Milk Hotel shortly after the tour. The band members remained friends but moved on to other projects. Mangum occasionally worked on music over the next few years—he released Orange Twin Field Works: Volume I and played as a touring member of Circulatory System in 2001, and briefly hosted a program for the freeform radio station WFMU in 2002—but kept to himself and released no new songs for Neutral Milk Hotel.

Cult following
There was no public explanation for the band's sudden breakup. Slate alleged that some fans were angry or accused Mangum of being selfish, and others wrote hoax blog posts giving fake details of upcoming tours and other false information. The large response helped the album gain a cult following, and converted Mangum into a larger-than-life figure. In 2003, Creative Loafing writer Kevin Griffis dedicated a cover story to trying to track down Mangum for personal closure. The search ended when Mangum sent him an email that read: "I'm not an idea. I am a person, who obviously wants to be left alone." Journalist Mark Richardson attempted to explain the album's rise in popularity: "Because [Mangum] was inaccessible, there was no outlet for connection other than the record itself and other fans who shared a passion. By doing nothing, Neutral Milk Hotel developed a cult."

Some journalists have noted the release of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea coincided with the rise of the Internet. The album, and by extension Neutral Milk Hotel, became common fixtures on online message boards, and early music websites like Pitchfork gave the band an increased level of promotion. Winkie wrote: "Would Aeroplane occupy the same untouchable place in American indie-rock culture if it was released in 1992? Or 1987? It's hard to say. The internet has a one-of-a-kind relationship with Neutral Milk Hotel." Memes about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea proliferated on websites like 4chan, reflecting a wave of "hipster" listeners who first discovered the album online, long after the band had broken up.

Critical reevaluation and sales
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea critical standing rose in the years after its release. Mark Richardson of Pitchfork awarded the 2005 reissue a perfect 10/10 score. Richardson said that although he initially found Mangum's infatuation with Anne Frank embarrassing, he grew an appreciation for the lyrics, and called them the album's defining characteristic. He highlighted the surrealistic imagery, and wrote: "It's a record of images, associations, and threads; no single word describes it so well as the beautiful and overused kaleidoscope." In the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide, critic Roni Sarig described the album as "timeless transcendentalist pop steeped in a century of American music, from funeral marches to punk rock...Aeroplane is a fragile, creaky, dignified, and ballsy record". Ankeny wrote that: "Neutral Milk Hotel's second album is another quixotic sonic parade; lo-fi yet lush, impenetrable yet wholly accessible". Ankeny also said the lyrics were too abstract to discern meaning. Marvin Lin of Tiny Mix Tapes found it challenging to concisely explain why the album is so great, and ultimately summarized his review with the statement: "As beautiful as it is disturbing, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is a stunning piece of art that draws you deeper with each listen. Most great art takes time to appreciate, and this album is no exception."

Despite the generally positive critical reevaluation, the album had its detractors. According to Richardson, listeners who dislike the album have often found its lyrics to be awkward, infantile, or disconcerting, and he said Mangum could be perceived as a "privileged dude sharing naive stoner wisdom". Grantland writer Steven Hyden, once an admirer of the album, felt his appreciation diminish over time, which he ascribed in part to the gradual loss of its original mystique. Just as the album itself became a meme, the tendency to lavish it with hyperbolic praise also became an online in-joke, exemplified by a 2015 headline from the satirical website ClickHole: "Disgusting: ISIS Just Released a 2-Star Review of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea".

Despite modest sales projections and never charting on the Billboard 200, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea had sold over 393,000 copies by 2013, with reported sales of 25,000 copies a year as noted by Slate in 2008. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was the sixth-best-selling vinyl record of 2008, and its sales helped contribute to a revitalization of vinyl in the late 2000s. The 33⅓ book about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by author Kim Cooper similarly shares large sales numbers, as it is the second-best-selling entry in the series.

Several websites and magazines have ranked In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as one of the greatest indie rock albums of all time, including Blender and Entertainment Weekly. Some outlets have also ranked it as one of the best albums of the 1990s. Pitchfork initially ranked it at number eighty-five on its list of the best albums of the 1990s, but moved the album to number four in its 2003 revised list. Paste similarly ranked it highly, placing it at number two, behind Radiohead's OK Computer. Other websites that placed In the Aeroplane Over the Sea in their list of the best albums of the 1990s include Cleveland.com (number twenty) and Slant Magazine (number forty-three). Spin in 2005 and Q in 2010 placed In the Aeroplane Over the Sea on their lists of the best albums of the previous twenty-five and thirty years respectively, while Rolling Stone and NME ranked it at 376 and 98 on their lists of the 500 greatest albums of all time respectively.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea has been highly influential. According to Pitchfork contributor Mike McGonigal, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea disparate genres laid the groundwork for a musical template followed by bands such as Bright Eyes and Six Organs of Admittance. Mangum's vocals influenced singers such as Colin Meloy of the Decemberists and Zach Condon of Beirut. Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler said In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was a contributing factor to their signing with Merge Records. On the album's tenth anniversary, Pitchfork published an article in which indie musicians such as Dan Snaith, Tim Kasher, and fellow Elephant6 member Kevin Barnes discussed its importance. Snaith said: "It's an album people want to keep for themselves—sharing it with only those closest to them. The way it has become a quintessential cult album—widely loved as well as widely unknown—makes it easy to believe there's something special between you and it—that it's yours alone no matter how many people love it."

Track listing
All tracks are written by Jeff Mangum, except where noted; horn arrangements by Robert Schneider and Scott Spillane.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

Neutral Milk Hotel
 * Jeff Mangum – guitar, voice, organ, floor tom, bowed fuzz bass, tapes, shortwave radio
 * Jeremy Barnes – drums, organ
 * Scott Spillane – trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, euphonium
 * Julian Koster – Wandering Genie, the singing saw, bowed banjo, accordion, white noise

Additional musicians
 * Robert Schneider – home organ, air organ, fuzz bass, harmony vocal, one-note piano
 * Laura Carter – zanzithophone
 * Rick Benjamin – trombone
 * Marisa Bissinger – saxophone, flugelhorn
 * Michelle Anderson – uilleann pipes

Artwork
 * Chris Bilheimer – art direction
 * Jeff Mangum – art direction
 * Brian Dewan – "Flying Victrola" illustration

title: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea


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Music of Greenland

The music of Greenland is a mixture of two primary strands, Inuit and Danish, mixed with influences from the United States and United Kingdom.

Greenland's musical character has been described as "definitely a rock country, both musically and literally" according to Greenlandic drummer Hans Rosenberg. The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes all Greenlandic music except the drum dances as influenced by external styles.

Folk music
The Inuit and the Danish peoples of Greenland have both maintained their distinct styles of folk music. Country-wide folk traditions included storytelling, which declined greatly after the introduction of the South Greenland Printing Press in 1857.

Traditional music which has best survived European contact can be found in the east and northeast of the island. It includes sacred drum dances played on an oval drum made of a wooden frame with a bear-bladder on top. Drum dances are the "only truly indigenous music" in Greenland, and are part of a roots revival in modern times. Shamans used drums as part of their religious affairs and sometimes organized singing duels between rivals in which the performer who got the most laughs from the audience won. Inuit drum dances were a declining tradition and in modern Greenland are being replaced by amateur theater groups like Silamiut, who used elements of indigenous music with masks, face painting and other techniques. Piseq are a form of personal song that comment on daily life; these are often handed down from generation to generation. Greenlandic Inuit folk songs are performed to tell stories, play games and tease or charm others.

Inuit music
The Inuit of Greenland share a musical tradition with related peoples across the Canadian territories of the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, as well as the US state of Alaska and part of eastern Russia. Greenlandic Inuit are part of the Eastern Arctic group; the Eastern Arctic Inuit of Canada and Alaska are part of the same music area as the Central Arctic Inuit, as opposed to the distinct styles of the Western Inuit.

Greenlandic Inuit music is largely based around singing and drums, the latter being generally reserved for large celebrations and other gatherings. Though there is much folk vocal music, there is no Inuit purely instrumental tradition with no accompaniment by singing or dancing. Greenlandic drums are mostly frame drums made of animal skin stretched over a wooden frame and decorated with decorative and symbolic motifs by the drummer. Aside from drums, whistles, bull-roarers and buzzers are also widespread, and the jaw harp and fiddle are both found, most likely recent imports.

Historical recordings of this music are done since 1905. This traditional Greenlandic music is performed also today.

Drum dances
Greenlandic drum dances are, like the relatives found in Eastern and Central Canada, based around a single dancer who composes songs sung by his family while he dances, usually in a qaggi, a snow-house built just for community events such as the drum dance. The men's drum dancing skills are evaluated by his endurance in his lengthy performance and the nature of his compositions. Drum dances are an important element of Greenlandic Inuit cultural cohesion, and function as personal expression, pure entertainment and social sanction.

Many drum dances are competitive in nature, featuring two song cousins who humorously sing and dance, while pointing out the flaws in the other. This is generally a light-hearted, convivial event, but is also sometimes used to settle serious duels between warring families or individuals; the jokes are prepared ahead of time and the person who evokes the most laughter from the audience is considered the victor.

Other Inuit folk song traditions
Many Inuit folk games revolve around song as well, including string games, hide-and-seek, juggling and rhymes and riddles. The katajjaq tradition is also well-known; it is a vocal contest between two women, standing facing each other. They sing songs, using throat-singing and imitating animal cries or other sounds. Katajjaq is a game, but is often stopped because both women begin laughing.

In addition to the drum dance and game songs, Greenlandic Inuit have a tradition of piseq (piserk, personal song) songs. These are expressive, spiritual, superstitious or narrative and may be composed for drum dances. Piseq and other vocal traditions aside from song games include a number of styles and tones, which vary depending on the social context of the performance. For example, a soft vocal tone is used both for character illustration in a narrative song and for personal songs in private settings. Many songs use only a few real words, interspersed among numerous vocables, or non-lexical syllables like ai-ya-yainga. Inuit songs are strophic and mostly use six different pitches; textual and melodic motifs are common. A song's word length and accentuation determines the rhythm, giving the songs a recitative-like style.

European music
With the arrival of Danes, new instruments and forms of European-derived music became popular like the fiddle, accordion and Christian hymns, while Moravian missionaries introduced violins, brass instruments and a tradition of purely instrumental music. The most influential Moravian importation, however, was the polyphonic choir, which has produced popular modern vocal groups like Mik. Kalattuut (dansemik) is a long-standing form of Inuit polka, which produced popular songs and virtuosos like accordion player Louis Andreasen. There is also a modern style called vaigat, which is similar to country music.

Classical music
Some composers of European classical music have Greenlandic themes in their music, including Poul Rovsing Olsen and Adrian Vernon Fish whose output includes over fifty works inspired by Greenland, its terrain, icescapes and music. Among his oeuvre are the four Greenland symphonies (numbers 3, 4, 10 and 13). The modern composer Mads Lumholdt (also member of the orchestra Northern Voices, singer in the orchestra Nowhereland and in No Offence, a vocal band) has become well-known, and his work Shaman, which debuted at the 2004-5 Etoiles Polaires Arctic Culture Festival was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize for its fusion of traditional Greenlandic music with modern styles and technology. The Nordic describes his work as "seeking to allow the traditional Greenlandic culture to be communicated through contemporary cultural language in such a way that respect for the original culture is preserved on the one hand yet passed on to a broader, contemporary audience on the other hand".

Greenland's national anthem is "Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit", which translates as Our Country, Who's Become So Old. It has been official since 1916, and was composed by Jonathan Petersen with words by Henrik Lund, both Greenlanders.

Popular music
Greenland was isolated from modern North American and European popular music until well into the mid-20th century. Early popular groups included the pioneering local Nuuk Orleans Jazz Band.

Hip hop
Since 1984, American hip hop has had a major influence, and a hip hop crew, Nuuk Posse, has been one of the most successful groups of recent years.

Rock
The Greenlandic rock and pop began in earnest in 1973, when ULO released the band Sume's Sumut; it was purchased by an estimated twenty percent of Greenland's total population, and singlehandedly kickstarted the local rock scene by uniquely singing in the Greenlandic language and using elements of traditional drum dances in the music. The singer Rasmus Lyberth did the most to change Greenlandic music by performing for simple entertainment rather than functionality; indeed, he took part in the Danish preselection for the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, performing in Greenlandic. Other local performers of note include G-60 and Ole Kristiansen. The 1980s saw Greenland become home to a number of bands inspired by Jamaican reggae and African American funk, like Aalut and Zikaza. Modern Greenland is home to the annual Nipiaa rock festival, held in Aasiaat, and performers like Chilly Friday, throat-singer Sylvia Watt-Cloutier and Karina Moller.

Famous modern rock bands include Kalaat, Siissisoq, Angu Motzfeldt, Pukuut, X-it, Fiassuit, Nanook, Small Time Giants and UltimaCorsa.

Metal
A growing metal scene has emerged in Greenland, with black and death metal groups such as The Perfect Mass, Moonlight Drowns, Failed to Failure and Silence.cold.alone. beginning to release music through the 2010s. One early pioneer of Greenlandic Metal is Arctic Spirits, who sing exclusively in the Inuit language.

Music industry
The largest record label in Greenland is ULO, from the town of Sisimiut; it was created by Malik Hoegh and Karsten Sommer. ULO releases both Greenlandic rock bands like Sume, pop singers like Rasmus Lyberth, and hip hop music crews like Nuuk Posse as well as Inuit folk music. Elements of modern Greenlandic music have also been used in the music of Kristian Blak, a Danish-Faroese jazz musician.

Summertime festivals called aussivik have become an important part of modern Greenlandic culture, and are based on an older custom that was revived in the 20th century along with drum dances and other elements.

Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (Radio Greenland) is the most important media institution in the country. It is an independent body administered by the Government of Greenland.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Music of Greenland


text:
Traitorous eight

The traitorous eight was a group of eight employees who left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in 1957 to found Fairchild Semiconductor. William Shockley had in 1956 recruited a group of young Ph.D. graduates with the goal to develop and produce new semiconductor devices. While Shockley had received a Nobel Prize in Physics and was an experienced researcher and teacher, his management of the group was authoritarian and unpopular. This was accentuated by Shockley's research focus not proving fruitful. After the demand for Shockley to be replaced was rebuffed, the eight left to form their own company.

Shockley described their leaving as a "betrayal". The eight who left Shockley Semiconductor were Julius Blank, Victor Grinich, Jean Hoerni, Eugene Kleiner, Jay Last, Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce, and Sheldon Roberts. In August 1957, they reached an agreement with Sherman Fairchild, and on September 18, 1957, they formed Fairchild Semiconductor. The newly founded Fairchild Semiconductor soon grew into a leader in the semiconductor industry. In 1960, it became an incubator of Silicon Valley and was directly or indirectly involved in the creation of dozens of corporations, including Intel and AMD. These many spin-off companies came to be known as "Fairchildren".

Initiation

In the winter of 1954–1955, William Shockley, an inventor of the transistor and a visiting professor at Stanford University, decided to establish his own mass production of advanced transistors and Shockley diodes. He found a sponsor in Raytheon, but Raytheon discontinued the project after a month. In August 1955, Shockley turned for advice to the financier Arnold Beckman, the owner of Beckman Instruments. Shockley needed one million dollars (1 million dollars in 1955 is about 11 million in 2023). Beckman knew that Shockley had no chance in the business, but believed that Shockley's new inventions would be beneficial for his own company and did not want to give them to his competitors. Accordingly, Beckman agreed to create and fund a laboratory under the condition that its discoveries should be brought to mass production within two years.

The new department of Beckman Instruments took the name Shockley Semi-Conductor Laboratories (the hyphen was conventional in those years). During 1955, Beckman and Shockley signed the deal, bought licenses on all necessary patents for $25,000, and selected the location in Mountain View, near Palo Alto, California. Though Shockley did recruit four PhD physicists, William W. Happ (from Raytheon Corporation) George Smoot Horsley and Leopoldo B. Valdes (both from Bell Labs), and Richard Victor Jones (a fresh Berkeley graduate), the location provided limited enticement for new employees. The vast majority of semiconductor-related companies and professionals were based on the East Coast, so Shockley posted ads in The New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune. Early respondents included Sheldon Roberts of Dow Chemical, Robert Noyce of Philco, and Jay Last, a former intern of Beckman Instruments. The newspaper campaign brought some three hundred responses, and fifteen people, including Gordon Moore and David Allison, Shockley himself recruited at a meeting of the American Physical Society.

Selection continued throughout 1956. Shockley was a proponent of social technologies (which later led him to eugenics) and asked each candidate to pass a psychological test, followed by an interview.

Blank, Last, Moore, Noyce, and Roberts started working in April–May, and Kleiner, Grinich, and Hoerni came during the summer. By September 1956, the lab had 32 employees, including Shockley. Each successful candidate had to negotiate his salary with Shockley. Kleiner, Noyce, and Roberts settled for $1,000 per month; the less-experienced Last got $675. Hoerni did not bother about his payment. Shockley set his own salary at $2,500 and made all salaries accessible to all employees.

The members of the future traitorous eight were aged between 26 (Last) and 33 (Kleiner), and six of them held PhDs. Hoerni was an experienced scientist and gifted manager, and, according to Bo Lojek, matched Shockley in intellect. Only Noyce was involved in semiconductor research, and only Grinich had experience in electronics.

Research strategy
Throughout 1956, most members of the lab were assembling and tuning the equipment, and "pure scientists" Hoerni and Noyce carried out individual applied research. Shockley refused to hire technical staff, believing that his scientists should be able to handle all technological processes. After resettlement, he focused on fine-tuning Shockley diodes for mass production, and five employees, led by Noyce, continued the work on a field effect transistor for Beckman Instruments. Shockley refused to work on bipolar transistors, which later was proven a strategic mistake. Because the work on Shockley diodes took so much effort the produced devices were commercial failures.

According to Noyce and Moore, as well as David Brock and Joel Shurkin, the shift from bipolar transistors to Shockley diodes was unexpected. Shockley initially planned to work on the mass production of diffusion bipolar transistors, but then set up a "secret project" on Shockley diodes, and in 1957 stopped all works on bipolar transistors. The reasons for this turn are unknown. According to Beckman's biographer, Shockley regarded his diode as an interesting scientific problem, and chose it, neglecting Beckman's commercial interests.

Bo Lojek, based on the archives of Shockley, believes that Shockley Labs never worked on bipolar transistors; that Shockley diodes were Shockley and Beckman's original target, for which Beckman Instruments received military R&D contracts; and that Shockley diodes could have found widespread use in telephony if Shockley had improved their reliability.

Frictions
Historians and colleagues generally agree that Shockley was a poor manager and businessman. From early childhood he was prone to outbursts of unprovoked aggression, which were suppressed only due to the internal discipline of his past working environment. He also tended to see rivals, even in his own subordinates.

On November 1, 1956, it was announced that the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics would be awarded to Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain. The related public events of November–December overtired Shockley and took him away from the lab at a time when it had several management problems. Despite the festivities, the atmosphere in the lab was unhealthy.

Although Shockley was never diagnosed by psychiatrists, historians characterized Shockley's state of mind in 1956–1957 as paranoia or autism. All phone calls were recorded, and the staff was not allowed to share their results with each other, which was not feasible since they all worked in a small building. Shockley, not trusting his employees, was sending their reports to Bell Labs for double-checking. At some point, he sent the entire lab for a lie detector test, though everyone refused.

The team started losing its members, starting with Jones, a technologist, who left in January 1957 due to a conflict with Grinich and Hoerni. Noyce and Moore then stood on different sides: Moore led the dissidents, whereas Noyce stood behind Shockley and tried to resolve conflicts. Shockley appreciated that and considered Noyce as his sole support in the group.

Resignation

In March 1957, Kleiner, who was beyond Shockley's suspicions, asked permission ostensibly to visit an exhibition in Los Angeles. Instead, he flew to New York to seek investors for a new company, and his parents, New York residents, assisted him. Kleiner was supported by Blank, Grinich, Last, Roberts, Hoerni and Moore. Arthur Rock and Alfred Coyle from Hayden, Stone & Co. became interested in the offer, believing that trainees of a Nobel laureate were destined to succeed.

As a last resort, on May 29, 1957, a group led by Moore presented Arnold Beckman with an ultimatum: solve the "Shockley problem" or they would leave. Moore suggested finding a professor position for Shockley and replacing him in the lab with a professional manager. Beckman refused, believing that Shockley could still improve the situation, later regretting this decision.

In June 1957, Beckman finally put a manager between Shockley and the team, but by then seven key employees had already made their decision. At the last minute they were joined by Noyce. Roberts persuaded him to attend the meeting of the "California group", as they called themselves in the agreement with Fairchild. The meeting was held at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco and was attended by Rock and Coyle. These ten people became the core of a new company.

"Coyle, a ruddy-faced Irishman with a fondness for ceremony, pulled out 10 newly minted $1 bills and laid them carefully on the table. "Each of us should sign every bill", he said. These dollar bills, covered with signatures, he explained, would be their contracts with each other."

Finding investors proved to be difficult. The US electronics industry was concentrated in the east, and the California group preferred to stay near Palo Alto. In August 1957, Rock and Coyle met with the inventor and businessman Sherman Fairchild, founder of Fairchild Aircraft and Fairchild Camera. Fairchild sent Rock to his deputy, Richard Hodgson. Hodgson, risking his reputation, accepted the offer and within a few weeks completed all paperwork. The capital of the new company, Fairchild Semiconductor, was divided into 1,325 shares. Each member of the traitorous eight received 100 shares, 225 shares went to Hayden, Stone & Co and 300 shares remained in reserve. Fairchild provided a loan of $1.38 million. To secure the loan, the traitorous eight gave Fairchild the voting rights on their shares, with the right to buy their shares at a fixed total price of $3 million.

On September 18, 1957, Blank, Grinich, Kleiner, Last, Moore, Noyce, Roberts, and Hoerni resigned from Shockley Labs. They became known as the "traitorous eight", though it is not known who coined the term. Shockley could never understand the reasons for this defection. After that time, he never talked to Noyce again, but continued to follow the work of "The Eight". He also combed through all records left by The Eight, basing patents, held as Shockley Labs' intellectual property, on any important ideas. (Technically, in accordance with U.S. law, those patents were issued to the respective inventing employees.)

In 1960, with the help of a new team, Shockley brought his own diode to serial production, but time had been lost, and competitors had already come close to the development of integrated circuits. Beckman sold the unprofitable Shockley Labs to investors from Cleveland. On July 23, 1961, Shockley was seriously injured in a car crash, and after recovery left the company and returned to teaching at Stanford. In 1969, IT&T, the new owners of Shockley Labs, moved the company to Florida. When the staff refused to move, the lab ceased to exist.

Split

"We were all focused on the single goal of producing our first product, a double diffused silicon mesa transistor ... We were all very young (27 to 32), only a few years beyond our school days. We were a very compatible group and spent a lot of time outside our working hours. Most of the founders were married, busy starting their families and raising small children in addition to all the time and effort they were spending building Fairchild ... I am struck by what a remarkable time it was and what innovative opportunities. – Jay T. Last, 2010"

In November 1957, The Eight moved out of Grinich's garage into a new, empty building on the border of Palo Alto and Mountain View. Their starting salaries ranged from $13,800 to $15,600 per year. Hodgson, who headed the board of directors, suggested Noyce as the operational manager of the company, but Noyce refused. Fairchild, knowing Noyce's personality, also opposed his leadership. Regardless of the will of Fairchild, Noyce, and Moore, who were responsible for the research and production, respectively, became the "leaders among equals".

The group immediately set a clear goal to produce an array of silicon diffusion mesa transistors for digital devices, utilizing the research results of Bell Labs and Shockley Labs. Moore, Hoerni and Last led three teams working on three alternative technologies. The technology of Moore resulted in a higher yield of operational n-p-n transistors, and in July–September 1958, they went into mass production. The release of p-n-p transistors of Hoerni was delayed until early 1959. This created the Moore-Hoerni conflict at Fairchild: Moore ignored the contribution of Hoerni, and Hoerni believed that his work was unfairly treated. However, the Moore transistors formed the prestige of Fairchild Semiconductor – for several years, they beat all the competitors.

In 1958, Fairchild mesa transistors were considered for the D-17B Minuteman I guidance computer, but they did not meet military standards of reliability. Fairchild already had a solution in the planar technology of Hoerni proposed on December 1, 1957. In the spring of 1958, Hoerni and Last were spending nights on experiments with the first planar transistors. The planar technology later became the second most important event in the history of microelectronics, after the invention of the transistor, but in 1959 it went unnoticed. Fairchild announced the transition from mesa to planar technology in October 1960. However, Moore refused to credit this achievement to Hoerni, and in 1996 even attributing it to unnamed Fairchild engineers.

In 1959, Sherman Fairchild exercised his right to purchase shares of the members of the traitorous eight. Jay Last recalled (in 2007) that this event happened too early and turned former partners into ordinary employees, destroying the team spirit. In November 1960, Tom Bay, the Vice President of Marketing at Fairchild, accused Last of squandering money and demanded termination of Last's project of developing integrated circuits. Moore refused to help Last, and Noyce declined to discuss the matter. This conflict was the last straw: on January 31, 1961, Last and Hoerni left Fairchild and to head Amelco, the microelectronics branch of Teledyne. Kleiner and Roberts joined them after a few weeks. Blank, Grinich, Moore, and Noyce stayed with Fairchild. The traitorous eight split into two groups of four.

Heritage

From 1960–1965, Fairchild was the undisputed leader of the semiconductor market, both technologically and in terms of sales. Early 1965 brought the first signs of management problems. In November 1965, the creators of integrated operational amplifiers Bob Widlar and David Talbert left for National Semiconductor. In February 1967, they were followed by five top managers who disagreed with Noyce. Noyce started litigation with shareholders and effectively removed himself from the operational management. In July 1967, the company became unprofitable and lost their leading position in the market to Texas Instruments.

In March 1968, Moore and Noyce decided to leave Fairchild and again, as nine years prior, turned to Arthur Rock. In the summer of 1968, they founded NM Electronics. Blank, Grinich, Kleiner, Last, Hoerni, and Roberts set aside the past disagreements and financially supported the company of Moore and Noyce. A year later, NM Electronics bought the trade name rights from the hotel chain Intelco and took the name of Intel. Moore held senior positions at Intel until 1997 when he was named Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation. Noyce left Intel in 1987 to lead the non-profit consortium Sematech. He died suddenly in 1990, the first of The Eight.

Grinich left Fairchild in 1968 for a short sabbatical and then taught at UC Berkeley and Stanford, where he published the first comprehensive textbook on integrated circuits. He later co-founded and ran several companies developing industrial radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags.

Blank was the last of The Eight to leave Fairchild in 1969. He founded the financial firm Xicor specializing in innovative start-ups, and in 2004 sold it for $529 million.

Hoerni headed Amelco until the summer of 1963 and, after the conflict with the Teledyne owners, for three years headed Union Carbide Electronics. In July 1967, supported by the watch company Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère (the predecessor of Swatch Group) founded Intersil, the company that created the market for custom CMOS circuits. The circuits developed by Intersil for Seiko in 1969–1970 contributed to the rise of Japanese electronic watches. Intersil and Intel weren't competitors as Intel released a limited set of templated circuits for computers and sold them initially only in the U.S. market, whereas Intersil focused on custom CMOS circuits with low power consumption and sold them worldwide.

Last remained with Amelco and for twelve years served as Vice President of Technology at Teledyne. In 1982, he founded Hillcrest Press specializing in art books. After leaving Amelco, Roberts led his own business, and in 1973–1987 served as a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Amelco, after numerous mergers, acquisitions, and renaming, became a subsidiary of Microchip Technology.

In 1972, Kleiner and Tom Perkins from Hewlett-Packard founded the venture capital fund Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which has been involved in the creation and/or funding of Amazon.com, Compaq, Genentech, Intuit, Lotus, Macromedia, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Symantec and dozens of other companies. Kleiner later wrote that his goal was to geographically spread the venture financing.

Honors
In May 2011, the California Historical Society gave the "Legends of California Award" to The Eight. Blank, Last, Moore, and Roberts' son Dave attended the event in San Francisco.

Fairchildren
In research, reporting, and popular lore related to Silicon Valley, the term "Fairchildren" has been used to refer to:

 * The corporate spin-offs created by former employees of Fairchild Semiconductor. This usage was propagated by historian Leslie Berlin through her 2001 review article, PhD thesis, and biography of Robert Noyce.
 * The founders of such firms. This is the earliest usage, e.g., in the 1978 BBC Horizon documentary "Now the Chips are Down", Tom Wolfe's 1983 profile of Noyce or a 5,000-word profile of Silicon Valley in 1999.
 * Former Fairchild Semiconductor employees, as in a 1988 New York Times article.
 * The original founders of Fairchild Semiconductor, more commonly known as the traitorous eight. This has been used by the PBS website and a book by Blasi et al.

One of the first articles to identify Fairchild as the parent of so many spin-offs appeared in Innovation Magazine in 1969. The spin-off companies, such as AMD, Intel, Intersil and restructured National Semiconductor, were different from those of the east coast and California's electronic companies established in the 1940s and 1950s. "Old Californians" like Beckman and Varian Associates did not trust Wall Street and kept control of their companies for decades, whereas the new companies of the 1960s were created for a quick (within 3–5 years) public sale of shares. Their founders built a business strategy based on the expectations of the investment banks. Another characteristic of Silicon Valley was the mobility of managers and professionals among companies. Partly because of Noyce, Silicon Valley developed a culture of openly denying the hierarchical culture of traditional corporations. People remained faithful to each other, but not to the employer or the industry. Fairchild "alumni" can be found not only in electronics-related but also financial and public relations companies.

title: Traitorous eight


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Awaji Island

Awaji Island (淡路島) is an island in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, in the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea between the islands of Honshū and Shikoku. The island has an area of 592.17 km2. It is the largest island of the Seto Inland Sea.

As a transit between those two islands, Awaji originally means "the road to Awa", the historic province bordering the Shikoku side of the Naruto Strait, now part of Tokushima Prefecture.

Geography
The island is separated from Honshū by the Akashi Strait and from Shikoku by the Naruto Strait. Since April 5, 1998, it has been connected to Kobe on Honshū by the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the second longest suspension bridge in the world. Since its completion the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway across the island has been the main eastern land link between Honshū and Shikoku. The Naruto whirlpools form in the strait between Naruto, Tokushima and Awaji.

The Nojima Fault, responsible for the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, cuts across the island. A section of the fault was protected and turned into the Nojima Fault Preservation Museum in the Hokudancho Earthquake Memorial Park (北淡町震災記念公園) to show how the movement in the ground cut across roads, hedges and other installations. Outside of this protected area, the fault zone is less visible. The Onaruto Bridge Memorial Museum (大鳴門橋記念館) and the Uzushio Science Museum (うずしお科学館) are located near Fukura.

History
According to the creation myth in Shinto, Awaji was the first of the ōyashima islands born from the kami Izanagi and Izanami. Awaji constituted a province between the 7th and the 19th century, Awaji Province, and was a part of Nankaidō. Today the island consists of three municipalities: Awaji, Sumoto and Minamiawaji.

The Awaji Ningyō-Jōruri, a more-than-500-year-old form of traditional puppet theater, or ningyō-jōruri, daily performs several shows in the Awaji Ningyō-Jōruri Hall (人形浄瑠璃館) in Minamiawaji, Hyōgo in the southern part of the island and is designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Japan. The Awaji puppets perform popular traditional dramas but have their origins in religious rituals.

Starting in the 1830s, the local potter Minpei started producing what would be then known as Awaji ware, also known as Minpei ware.

Tadao Ando designed several structures on the island, among them, the Hompuku-ji water temple (本福寺) and the Awaji Yumebutai,  both located in Awaji, Hyōgo.

In 1995, this island was the epicenter of the Kobe earthquake, which killed over 5,502 people. The earthquake caused enormous damage around the northern part of the island, which observed a severe earthquake with a seismic intensity 7. The earthquake has a seismic fault called Nojima Fault. This fault is one of the closest faults to the epicenter and was designated as a national natural monument in 1998.

Municipalities
There are 3 municipalities in Awaji island: Awaji, Sumoto and Minamiawaji. They are part of Hyōgo Prefecture.

title: Awaji Island


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Mega Millions

Mega Millions (originally known as The Big Game in 1996 and renamed, temporarily, to The Big Game Mega Millions six years later) is an American multijurisdictional lottery game. The first drawing took place on September 6, 1996, with six participating states, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Virginia. After growth of the game in 1997, a Tuesday Drawing was added in February 1998. As of June 30, 2023, it is offered in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The first (The Big Game) Mega Millions drawing was in 2002. The logo for all versions of the game following the retirement of The Big Game name featured a gold-colored ball with six stars to represent the game's initial membership, although some lotteries insert their respective logos in the ball.

Mega Millions is drawn at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday and Friday evenings, including holidays. Mega Millions is administered by a consortium of its 12 original lotteries, the drawings are held at the studios of WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, supervised by the Georgia Lottery. The hosts are John Crow, Carol Blackmon, and Adria Wofford.

Under the current version's regulations (which began October 28, 2017, with the first drawing October 31) for Mega Millions, the minimum Mega Millions advertised jackpot is $20 million, paid in 30 graduated yearly installments, increasing 5% each year (unless the cash option is chosen). The jackpot increases when no top-prize winner results.

Reflecting common practice among American lotteries, the jackpot is advertised as a nominal value of annual installments. A cash-value option (the usual choice), when chosen by a jackpot winner, pays the approximate present value of the installments. Mega Millions' previous format began on October 19, 2013, its first drawing was three days later. In the current version of Mega Millions, five white balls are drawn from a pool of 70, and one gold-colored "MegaBall" is drawn from a separate pool of 25, a player must match all six numbers to win the jackpot.

Each game costs $2. Of the 47 Mega Millions jurisdictions, all but California offer an option, called "Megaplier" (plays with the Megaplier are $3 each) where non-jackpot prizes are multiplied by 2, 3, 4, or 5. The Megaplier was made available to all Mega Millions jurisdictions in January 2011, it began as an option available only in Texas. Several of the game's members offer the Just the Jackpot option, in which two plays cost $3. Only the jackpot can be won, none of the lower-tier prizes are available on such a wager.

The largest winning jackpot in Mega Millions history was $1.602 billion, for the August 8, 2023 drawing, in which a single winning jackpot ticket was sold in Florida.

The 2010 expansion of Mega Millions and Powerball
On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in American lottery jurisdictions, with the two groups referred to as the "Mega Power Lottery" by many users. The expansion occurred on January 31, 2010, as 23 Powerball members began selling Mega Millions tickets for their first drawing on February 2, 2010, likewise, 10 Mega Millions members began selling Powerball tickets for their first drawing the next day. Montana (joining Mega Millions on March 1, 2010) was the first jurisdiction to add either game after the cross-sell expansion. Nebraska (March 20, 2010), Oregon (March 28, 2010), Arizona (April 18, 2010), Maine (May 9, 2010), Colorado and South Dakota (the latter two on May 16, 2010) also have joined Mega Millions since the expansion.

As of January 2020, 47 lotteries were offering Mega Millions and Powerball, Florida joined Mega Millions in May 2013. (Puerto Rico, whose lottery began in the 1930s, currently does not offer Mega Millions.) Mississippi began selling lottery tickets in 2019, it joined Mega Millions on January 30, 2020.

Before the agreement, the only stores that sold Mega Millions and Powerball tickets were retailers whose businesses were on a border between jurisdictions and sold competing games.

The current Mega Millions format began in October 2017. Plays are $2 per game. For an additional $1 per play, the Megaplier, if activated, multiplies nonjackpot prizes. Multipliers are 2, 3, 4, and 5 (a second-prize Megaplier play can win $5 million cash). The Megaplier is not available in California, or on Just the Jackpot wagers (where offered).

Mega Millions and Powerball
Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah do not sell lottery tickets. In 2013, Wyoming became the 44th state to establish a lottery, the next year, it began, initially offering both Mega Millions and Powerball. In August 2018, a bill establishing a lottery in Mississippi was passed, and sent to its governor for his signature, its lottery began November 25, 2019, with Mississippi joining Mega Millions on January 30, 2020.

In most cases, a lottery joining Mega Millions on or after January 31, 2010, offered Powerball before the MUSL cross-sell expansion.

The Big Game
Tickets for The Big Game began to be sold in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Virginia on August 31, 1996. The Big Game was created and designed by Michigan Lottery Commissioner Bill Martin and Illinois Lottery Director Desiree Rogers after having discussions regarding a multistate game with lottery directors Rebecca Paul of the Georgia Lottery and Penelope W. Kyle of the Virginia Lottery. The Big Game initially was drawn weekly, on Friday.

The Georgia Lottery was a member of MUSL at the time and wanted to sell both games for the remainder of 1996, but within a few days, Georgia was forcibly removed from MUSL, returning with the 2010 cross-selling expansion.

Beginning in January 1999, jackpot winners were given the option to receive their prize in cash. In May 1999, New Jersey joined The Big Game, the only jurisdiction to enter as a participant before The Big Game became Mega Millions in 2002.

The Big Game Mega Millions
Ohio and New York joined The Big Game consortium on May 15, 2002, when the game was renamed The Big Game Mega Millions, temporarily retaining the old name and the original "gold ball" logo. The "Big Money Ball" became the "Mega Ball". While the game's name was altered, the yellow ball in the new Mega Millions logo continued to read "The Big Game" until February 2003, after which it was replaced with six stars representing the original members of the consortium. The first (The Big Game) Mega Millions drawing was held two days later, on May 17. The Mega Millions trademark is owned by the Illinois Lottery. The first three lotteries to join Mega Millions were Washington (in September 2002), Texas (in 2003), and California (in 2005), California was the last addition to Mega Millions before the cross-sell expansion of 2010. Montana joined Mega Millions on March 1, 2010, the first addition to Mega Millions after the cross-sell expansion.

When Texas joined Mega Millions in 2003, it began offering an option, initially available only to Texas Lottery players, known as the Megaplier, which was similar to Powerball's Power Play. The 11 Mega Millions lotteries without Megaplier on the January 31, 2010, cross-selling date gradually added the multiplier option, by January 2011, all Mega Millions lotteries, except for California, offered the Megaplier. The Texas Lottery owns the trademark to Megaplier.

On June 24, 2005, to commemorate California joining Mega Millions, that night's drawing was held in Hollywood, with Carrie Underwood assisting host Glenn Burns for the draw.

For the November 15, 2005, drawing, a group called "The Lucky 7" held the only jackpot-winning ticket, purchased in Anaheim, California, winning $315 million. They chose the cash option, splitting $175 million before tax was withheld.

On March 6, 2007, the Mega Millions jackpot reached $390 million, which was then the third-largest jackpot in U.S. history. The jackpot was shared by two tickets, both matching the numbers of 16–22–29–39–42 and Mega Ball 20. Both winners chose the cash option, with each share $116,557,083 before tax was withheld.

2010 cross-sell expansion
The New Jersey Lottery, among others, in early 2009 announced it would seek permission to sell Powerball tickets alongside Mega Millions. In October 2009, an agreement between Mega Millions and MUSL allowed all U.S. lotteries, including New Jersey's, to offer both games. On January 31, 2010, Mega Millions expanded to include the 23 MUSL members, as of that date, 35 jurisdictions were participating in Mega Millions. On the same day, 10 existing Mega Millions-participating lotteries began selling Powerball tickets. Ohio joined Powerball on April 16, 2010. On March 1, 2010, Montana became the first MUSL member to add Mega Millions after the cross-sell expansion. Nebraska became the 37th Mega Millions participating member on March 20, 2010, followed by Oregon as the 38th member on March 28, Arizona as the 39th member on April 18, and Maine as 40th Mega Millions participant on May 9, 2010. Colorado and South Dakota added Mega Millions on May 16, 2010, bringing the total to 42 jurisdictions.

Recent additions to Mega Millions included the U.S. Virgin Islands, in October 2010, and Louisiana in November 2011. Florida joined Mega Millions on May 15, 2013, the first drawing to include Florida-bought tickets was two days later.

Presumably due to their experience with the Power Play option for Powerball, all 23 lotteries joining Mega Millions on January 31, 2010, immediately offered Megaplier to their players. The Megaplier continues to be drawn by Texas Lottery computers, as California does not offer the multiplier. Montana, offering Powerball before the expansion date, became the 24th lottery to offer the Megaplier, followed by Nebraska (the 25th), Oregon (the 26th), Arizona (as the 27th) and Maine (as the 28th lottery to offer the option). After Colorado and South Dakota joined Mega Millions, the number of lotteries offering the Megaplier rose to 37.

Mega Millions tickets bought with the Megaplier option, beginning September 12, 2010, automatically won $1 million (instead of $250,000) if the five white balls – but excluding the Mega Ball – are matched.

On March 13, 2010, New Jersey became the first Mega Millions participant (just before the cross-sell expansion) to produce a jackpot-winning ticket for Powerball after joining that game. The ticket was worth over $211 million annuity (the cash option was chosen). On May 28, 2010, North Carolina became the first Powerball member (just before the cross-selling expansion) to produce a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket after joining Mega Millions, with an annuity jackpot of $12 million.

In January 2012, Mega Millions' rival Powerball was altered, among the changes were a price increase of $1 for each play, as a result, a base game costs $2, or $3 with the Power Play option. The price of a Mega Millions play stayed the same until 2017. The price increase for playing Powerball was a major factor in Louisiana deciding to pursue joining Mega Millions, as that state's lottery joined Mega Millions on November 16, 2011.

October 2013 format change
The final 5/56 + 1/46 Mega Millions drawing was held on October 18, 2013, that night's jackpot of $37 million was not won. The first drawing under the revised 5/75 + 1/15 format—which saw the jackpot estimate "leap" to $55 million due to the change in the annuity structure—occurred on October 22, 2013. The minimum jackpot was then $15 million, with rollovers of at least $5 million. Second prize (5+0) became $1 million cash. In the revised format, players chose 5 of 75 white ball numbers, and the "Gold Ball" number out of 15.

The Megaplier option remained, the 5 multiplier was added.

Lower prize tiers (through October 18, 2013) based on a $1 play:
 * Match 5+0: $250,000
 * Match 4+MB: $10,000
 * Match 4+0: $150
 * Match 3+MB: $150
 * Match 3+0: $7
 * Match 2+MB: $10
 * Match 1+MB: $3
 * Match 0+MB: $2

Payouts in California remained parimutuel.

The odds of winning or sharing a Mega Millions jackpot (October 19, 2013 – October 27, 2017): one in about 258.9 million. The overall odds of winning a prize were one in 14.71, including the base $1 prize for a "Mega Ball"-only match.

Prizes and odds (2013–2017 version) based on a $1 play:
 * 5 numbers plus the Mega Ball (5+1): Jackpot; 1 in 258,890,850
 * 5 numbers but not the Mega Ball (5+0): $1,000,000; 1 in 17,259,390
 * 4+1: $5,000; 1 in 739,688
 * 4+0: $500; 1 in 52,835
 * 3+1: $50; 1 in 10,720
 * 3+0: $5; 1 in 766
 * 2+1: $5; 1 in 473
 * 1+1: $2; 1 in 56
 * Mega Ball only: $1; 1 in 21

The odds for winning the $1 prize, 1 in 21, reflected the possibility of matching none of the white balls, but matching the Mega Ball.

The annuity—which was 20 annual payments (no cash option was available) when The Big Game began—changed from 26 equal yearly installments to 30 graduated annual payments (increasing 5 percent yearly) with the format change on October 19, 2013.

October 2017 format/price point change
On October 28, 2017, the price of a Mega Millions play doubled, to $2, the first drawing under the current price point was October 31, 2017. The Mega Millions double matrix changed, from 5/75 + 1/15 to the current 5/70 + 1/25. The starting jackpot became $40 million, with minimum rollovers of $5 million. The "Megaplier" option (which again is not offered in California) was retained, with an adjustment to its multipliers. (The final jackpot for the $1 version was $30 million, which was not won, the initial jackpot for the new version would still be $40 million with a jackpot hit.)

Mega Millions' non-California prize tiers effective October 28, 2017 (old prizes in parentheses, changed amounts in boldface) for a $2 base play:

 * 5+MB: Jackpot; starting jackpot raised to $40 million (annuity value)
 * 5+0: $1,000,000 ($1,000,000)
 * 4+MB: $10,000 ($5,000)
 * 4+0: $500 ($500)
 * 3+MB: $200 ($50)
 * 3+0: $10 ($5)
 * 2+MB: $10 ($5)
 * 1+MB: $4 ($2)
 * 0+MB: $2 ($1)

The new prize structure allocates roughly 75 percent of the prize pool for the jackpot, this is, in part, to facilitate the new Just the Jackpot option. The 2013–2017 version allocated about 68 percent towards the jackpot.

"Just the Jackpot" option
In preparation for the October 28, 2017, format change the then-46 Mega Millions members were given the choice of offering a $3, two-game play (called "Just the Jackpot"). A player choosing this option is not eligible for any of the eight lower-tier prizes, therefore, the Megaplier option is not available for Just the Jackpot wagers.

These lotteries offered the "Just the Jackpot" option upon the format change: Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Kentucky has since added "Just the Jackpot", with other lotteries potentially adding it. Not known is whether a second series of playslips would be printed for lotteries offering "Just the Jackpot" beginning after the October 28, 2017, format change.

"Just the Jackpot" wagers and regular Mega Millions plays are printed on separate tickets. Most Just the Jackpot wagers are terminal-generated, however, JtJ wagers in Kansas and Texas allow the player to choose their numbers, while Wisconsin players must ask for a terminal-generated ticket.

As of January 2020, there has yet to be a jackpot winner from a Just the Jackpot wager, there also is no known count of JtJ wagers that would have won second prize (5+0) with a traditional Mega Millions play.

2020 adjustments to jackpot starting point and rollover due to COVID-19
On April 7, 2020, the Mega Millions starting jackpot amount was temporarily reset from $40 million to $20 million with the annuity option, with at least a $2 million rollover for each drawing without a jackpot winner, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This was done to enforce social distancing and discourage crowding of selling venues for large jackpots, and to account for lower interest rates.

Record jackpots
Over time, the size of jackpots has increased because of the higher ticket price, the larger number of states participating, and the reduced odds of winning.

Mega Millions' largest jackpot of $1.602 billion was won on August 8, 2023 in Neptune Beach, Florida.

The second largest Mega Millions jackpot, $1.537 billion, was won on October 23, 2018, by one ticket, sold in South Carolina. The jackpot was claimed on March 5, 2019, with the winner choosing to remain anonymous under South Carolina law.

The third-largest Mega Millions jackpot worth $1.35 billion was won following the January 13, 2023 drawing, in which one winning ticket was sold in Maine.

The fourth-largest Mega Millions jackpot worth $1.34 billion was won following the July 29, 2022, drawing, in which one winning ticket was sold in Illinois.

The fifth-largest Mega Millions jackpot worth $1.13 billion was won following the March 26, 2024, drawing, in which one winning ticket was sold in New Jersey.

The sixth-largest Mega Millions jackpot advertised as $640 million at the time of the drawing (annuitized) or $462 million (cash value), was drawn on March 30, 2012. The initial estimate for that drawing (following the March 27 drawing, which was $363 million annuity) was $476 million (later increased to $500 million and again to $540 million), brisk ticket sales pushed the jackpot values, both annuitized (to $656 million) and the cash option ($474 million) higher. The amount spent on Mega Millions for drawings following its previous jackpot win, on January 24, 2012, was at least $1.5 billion. three jackpot-winning tickets had been confirmed (Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland).

Mega Millions' seventh-largest jackpot, $648 million (second-largest won), was for the December 17, 2013, drawing. Two winning tickets, one each from California and Georgia, were sold. The holder of the Georgia ticket claimed the next morning, they selected the cash option, which amounted to $173,819,742.50 before withholdings. The holder of the California ticket claimed on January 3, 2014. (The California ticket holder received an equal share, but potentially a larger cash-option amount, as California lottery winnings are exempt from state income tax.)

The July 24, 2018, drawing produced the eighth-largest jackpot (pending the larger one on offer the following October). The annuity value was $543 million, but the holders of the winning ticket, 11 co-workers at a Wells Fargo branch in San Jose, chose to split the $320 million cash lump sum.

Mega Millions' ninth-largest jackpot, $540 million, was for the July 8, 2016, drawing. One ticket from Indiana won the jackpot, the winner chose the cash option.

Mega Millions' tenth-largest jackpot, $533 million, was for the March 30, 2018, drawing. One ticket from New Jersey won the jackpot, Riverdale Lukoil South Gas Station sold the winning ticket.

Versions of (The Big Game) Mega Millions
Versions of The Big Game and Mega Millions have used different matrices:

Megaplier
Mega Millions players have the option to activate a multiplier, called Megaplier, in 46 of its 47 jurisdictions; it is functionally similar to Powerball's Power Play, except the latter limits the second-prize multiplier to 2x. (Neither Megaplier nor Power Play are offered in California because the parimutuel prize structure required by California Law is not compatible with the multiplier.) By adding $1 to a basic Mega Millions game, to $3, a player has an opportunity to multiply any non-jackpot prize by 2, 3, 4, or 5. The Megaplier is drawn by the Texas Lottery (before the cross-sell expansion on January 31, 2010, it was the only lottery to offer Megaplier); it is drawn by a random number generator (RNG). The odds for each Megaplier possibility are not uniform.

Megaplier wagers made for drawings from September 12, 2010, through October 18, 2013, that won second prize (then $250,000) were automatically elevated to 4x, winning $1 million. This "guarantee" did not carry over to the following version of Mega Millions, although the $1 million second prize becomes $5 million if the Megaplier is 5x.

Winning and probability
Former Mega Millions odds (October 19, 2013 – October 27, 2017): The probability and odds can be taken into a mathematical perspective: The probability of winning the jackpot (through October 27, 2017) was 1:(75C5) x (15), that is: 75 ways for the first white ball times 74 ways for the second times 73 for the third times 72 for the fourth times 71 for the last white ball divided by 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1, or 5!, and this number is then multiplied by 15 (15 possible numbers for the "Megaball"). Therefore, (75 x 74 x 73 x 72 x 71)/(5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1) x 15 = 258,890,850, which means any combination of five white balls plus the Megaball has a 1:258,890,850 chance of winning the jackpot. Similarly, the odds for second prize were 1:(75C5) x (15/14) = 1: 18,492,204 chance of winning. The overall probability of winning any prize was 1 in 14.7. If there are no jackpot winners for a specific drawing, the jackpot will keep increasing, however, the odds will still remain the same.

Payouts through October 18, 2013:

Overall probabilities: 1 in 755 of winning any of the top six prizes, 1 in 40 of winning any prize.

In California, prize levels are paid on a parimutuel basis, rather than the fixed lower-tier amounts for winners in other Mega Millions jurisdictions. California's eight lower-tier Mega Millions prize pools are separate from those shared by the other 45 lotteries. California's second prize is a "secondary jackpot," its payout sometimes exceeds $1 million cash, even though California does not offer the Megaplier.

Payment options and claiming prizes
In New Jersey and Texas lotteries, players must choose, in advance, whether they wish to collect a jackpot prize in cash or annuity. New Jersey winners can change an annuity ticket to cash should they be eligible to claim a jackpot, but the choice is binding in Texas. The other Mega Millions members allow the cash/annuity choice to be made after winning (usually 60 days after claiming the ticket), although in Florida, the 60-day "clock" starts with the drawing in which the jackpot prize was won.

If a jackpot prize is not claimed within the respective jurisdiction's time limit, each of the 46 Mega Millions members gets back the money they contributed to that jackpot. Each of the 46 lotteries has rules in regards to unclaimed prizes, most Mega Millions members set aside unclaimed winnings for educational purposes.

In 2007, a $31 million prize went unclaimed in New York. Many prizes of $250,000 each have been unclaimed, including several in Michigan for 2007 drawings.

Mega Millions winners have either 180 days (California nonjackpot prizes only) or one year to claim prizes, including the jackpot (although some Mega Millions winners lose the right to collect a jackpot in cash if they wait more than 60 days after the drawing).

The minimum age to purchase a Mega Millions ticket is 18, except in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, and Mississippi, where the minimum age is 21, in Nebraska, it is 19. Generally (an exception is Virginia), minors can win on tickets received as gifts, the rules according to each Mega Millions member vary for minors receiving prizes.

Rules vary according to the applicable laws and regulations in the jurisdiction where the ticket is sold, and the winner's residence (e.g., if New Jerseyans win on a ticket bought near their workplace in Manhattan). Mega Millions winnings are exempt from state income tax in California, while Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming do not have an income tax. Some residents of New York City and Yonkers, New York, pay three levels of income tax, as these cities levy income taxes.

Drawings
Drawings are usually held at the studios of WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. The original host was WSB's chief meteorologist, Glenn Burns. Since 2008, the drawings have been emceed by the hosts of the Georgia Lottery drawings John Crow, Atlanta radio host Carol Blackmon and Adria Wofford. Crow usually begins each drawing with “Let's see if I can make you a millionaire tonight.” or “Let's see you can win some money!” and signs off with "Play on, America!" Blackmon usually speaks quickly and begins each drawing with “Get out your tickets.” Sabrina Cupit originally served as the secondary host if neither Crow or Blackmon are available. In 2022, Cupit was replaced by Wofford. In 2023, Wofford was promoted to co-host serving alongside Crow while Blackmon was demoted to back-up host of neither primary host is available. Drawings are supervised by Lottery Security and certified by Preston, CPA.

Before the January 31, 2010, cross-sell expansion, Mega Millions was the only multi-jurisdictional lottery whose drawings were carried nationally, instead of airing only on stations in participating jurisdictions. Chicago-based cable superstation WGN-TV simulcast Mega Millions drawings on its national WGN America feed immediately following WGN's 9:00 p.m. Central Time newscast. Following the cross-sell expansion, WGN also began airing Powerball drawings nationally. WGN served as a default carrier of both major games where no local television station carried either multi-jurisdictional lottery's drawings. Both drawings were removed from WGN America in late 2014 when it ceased carrying WGN's newscasts.

Two machines are used in each Mega Millions drawing. The model used for Mega Millions is the Criterion II, manufactured by Smartplay International of Edgewater Park, New Jersey. The balls are moved around by means of counter-rotating arms which randomly mix the balls. Individually, the five white balls, several seconds apart, drop through a hole in the bottom of the mixing drum.

Revenue
Approximately 50% of Mega Millions sales is returned to players as prizes, the remainder is split (each lottery has different rules regarding these funds) among retailers, marketing, and operations, as well as the 47 jurisdictions offering the game, different lotteries use the proceeds in different ways.

Miscellany
In the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the legislature in Albany, fearing a monumental loss of revenue, passed legislation the following month, which was signed by Governor George Pataki, which included joining a multi-jurisdictional lottery game. Around the same time, for entirely different reasons, Ohio's governor also gave the green light to joining a multi-jurisdictional game. Both lotteries opted to join The Big Game, which, at the time, was offered in seven states. The added populations of the two new jurisdictions, in turn, led to a larger double matrix. The first machine continued to hold white 52 balls, while 16 gold balls were added in the second, meaning there were 52 numbers to pick from in both parts of each $1 game. On May 15, 2002, the game was renamed The Big Game Mega Millions, shortly after, it became just Mega Millions. Except for the 2010 cross-selling expansion, this was the only time The Big Game or Mega Millions simultaneously added more than one member.

In 2005, Mega Millions was the target of a mailing scam. A letter bearing the Mega Millions logo was used in a string of lottery scams designed to trick people into providing personal financial information by cashing bogus checks. The letter, which had been sent to people in several states via standard mail, included a check for what the scammers said was an unclaimed Mega Millions prize. If the check was cashed, it bounced, but not before the bank stamped it with a routing number and personal account information and sent it back to the fraudulent organization, providing them with the recipients' financial information.

A budget impasse due to the 2006 New Jersey Government shutdown led to the temporary closing of its non-essential agencies on July 1, 2006. Among the casualties were the Atlantic City casinos and the New Jersey Lottery. Not only were New Jersey's in-house games (such as Pick-6) not drawn for about a week, but all New Jersey lottery terminals were shut down, meaning Mega Millions could not be played in New Jersey, even though Mega Millions was drawn as usual. A similar shutdown happened in Minnesota on July 1, 2011.

Elecia Battle made national headlines in January 2004 when she claimed that she had lost the winning ticket in the December 30, 2003, Mega Millions drawing. She then filed a lawsuit against the woman who had come forward with the ticket, Rebecca Jemison. Several days later, when confronted with contradictory evidence, she admitted that she had lied. Battle was charged with filing a false police report the following day. As a result of this false report, she was fined $1,000, ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, and required to compensate the police and courts for various costs incurred.

The January 4, 2011 Mega Millions drawing drew attention for its similarity to "The Numbers," a sequence of six numbers that served as a plot device of the ABC drama series Lost. One such usage involved character Hugo "Hurley" Reyes playing the sequence in a similar "Mega Lotto" game, winning a nine-figure jackpot and subsequently experiencing numerous misfortunes in his personal life. The first three numbers (4, 8, 15) and mega ball (42) in the Mega Millions drawing matched the first three numbers and the final number (which Hurley also used as the "mega ball" number) in the Lost sequence. The last two numbers in the Mega Millions drawing did not match the last two numbers that were used in the scene. Those who played "The Numbers," including from quick-picks, won $150 ($118 in California) in a non-Megaplier game, $600 with the multiplier.

The 12 original (before the 2010 cross-sell expansion) Mega Millions members have each produced at least one Mega Millions jackpot winner.

On May 11, 2022, Crow incorrectly called the mega ball number as a "6" instead of the actual "9," the numbers printed on the ball have an underline to denote their correct orientation. The New York Lottery paid $5,538 to customers before discovering the error.

title: Mega Millions