The games of chance that make Las Vegas such a popular destination have roots in the earliest history of the world. Records from India, dating from 321 B.C., reveal that gambling was regulated by a superintendent of public games, whose job was to supply gaming devices, according to research by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Primitive cave walls have illustrations of gambling games. A painting in an Egyptian tomb depicts a nobleman in his afterlife playing a board game with dice called hounds and jackals. Dog racing emerges in Egypt.
Horse racing dates almost as far back.
The first recorded Olympic games. Betting accompanies the athletic events. Greek and Roman soldiers play an early version of roulette, using chariot wheels. The Hun Dynasty in China created keno. Funds raised by lotteries were used for defense, primarily to finance building the Great Wall.