One man’s faith in the postal service puts the rest of ours to shame. Melvin Milligan won a $46 million lottery jackpot in the state of New Jersey in 2001. Milligan also became the first person in New Jersey lottery history to send the winning ticket in regular mail, instead of opting for insured or certified mail. He had purchased the winning ticket on June 9, 2000, but forgot all about it until the jackpot nearly went unclaimed almost a year later. Upon hearing about the missing ticket on the news, Milligan searched through his junk drawers until he found the ticket he had bought. He took it to a lottery agent, who verified that he had the $46 million ticket. Once the paperwork was filled out, he put the winning ticket in an envelope and sent it in a regular postal service mailbox just two days before the ticket would have expired. His wife worried that the ticket would get lost in the mail, but he didn’t think much of it. Lucky for Milligan, the ticket arrived safely at the lottery office, and he was able to claim his winnings, which he took as a $24 million lump sum.
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