Nagging prompts £214m lottery win

Harold Diamond, an 80-year-old retired teacher from Sullivan County in the US, thanked his wife Carol for her 'insistence', which he credited with winning $326 million on the Mega Millions lottery.

The couple had been on their way to dinner, when Carol asked him to pull over because she was concerned about him driving in heavy rain. The Mirror reported that he had wanted to continue driving, but didn't want to upset his wife, so agreed to pull into a petrol station - where they bought a lottery ticket.

That ticket went on to win New York's biggest ever jackpot, and Sullivan told the New York Post: "My wife insisted we stop here to eat and wait for the weather to clear, and I reluctantly agreed. I have to thank her with both barrels because if it weren't for her insistence, we would not be here today."

Credit for a lottery win

Diamond is bound to be grateful for his wife's lack of faith in his driving ability, given the fact it prompted his lottery win. Of course, winning all comes down to luck and chance, but over the years there have been a host of usual reasons given for netting the jackpot.

In May 2013, a Chicago man picked up a $4.85 million win, thanks to his wife. She had been cleaning the kitchen and found 11 tickets, so told him she would throw them away unless he checked them that night. He went to a petrol station, and discovered his win.

In September 2013, a man from Charlotte in the US thanked his mother-in-law, after winning $257,000 on the lottery. He had bought the ticket four months earlier, but hadn't thought to check his ticket until his mother-in-law told him there was an unclaimed ticket in the area. He checked a stack of them in his truck, and discovered he was a winner. All she asked in return was a new fridge.

Then there are some people who say they owe their win to something more unusual.

In August last year John Biddlecombe, an 81-year-old from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, won £20,000 on the National Lottery and said his recently deceased wife was responsible for the win. He said his wife Alice was looking after him from the afterlife.

In July, a lottery syndicate of Tesco workers in Plymouth credited seagull poo with the win. The group shared £3.7 million, and the syndicate leader said it was all down to the bird - sent by her late husband. Apparently her daughter had been pooled on by a seagull, and she took this as a message from her late husband, so she asked her daughter to buy the ticket that week. When the ticket went on to win the jackpot, she saw it as a sign.

And in August 2010 a Savannah woman credited an itchy hand with winning $10,000 on the lottery. She was in the store when it started itching, and she decided it was a sign that she should buy a ticket.

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