Famously, something akin to this was done by Voltaire in 1729 (including the crowdsourcing). See https://books.google.com/books?id=BBusxgu8-AAC&lpg=PA259&vq=lot

Famously, something akin to this was done by Voltaire in 1729 (including the crowdsourcing). See https://books.google.com/books?id=BBusxgu8-AAC&lpg=PA259&vq=lottery&pg=PA260#v=onepage&q&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=BBusxgu8-AAC&lpg=PA259&vq=...