Who won the mega millions, Maryland lottery officials announced that a winning ticket was purchased at a store in Baltimore County, though they had not identified the winner yet.
"This is truly remarkable and historic," said Maryland lottery director Stephen Martino.
The country was engulfed by lottery mania as the clock ticked down to the drawing of the numbers for the Mega Millions in Atlanta on Friday.
The jackpot had mushroomed into the largest lottery in world history after the previous drawing three days earlier failed to produce a winner.
The odds of winning – at 176 million-to-one, the average American was more likely to be struck by lightning twice or killed by a falling vending machine – did nothing to deter the mania.


Some 625 million tickets were expected to have been sold, more than two for every American resident, even though statistically it was an extremely poor bet.
Long queues snaked out of corner stores as buyers lined up to try their chances. Many discussed how they would spend the money if they won.
“You won’t be seeing me again, I’m off to buy myself a tropical island,” said George Thompson, 46, a New York construction worker.
Others had more philanthropic aspirations.
“Sure, I’d keep some back for myself and my family, but I’d give most of it away to deserving causes,” said Irena Gomez, an officer worker who was next in the queue. “Nobody needs that much money.”
The jackpot jumped from $540 million on Thursday to $640 million on Friday as the hopeful went on a final-day ticket-buying spree.
The last minute rush was expected to drive the figures even higher. Facebook and Twitter were buzzing with discussions about what people would do with the winnings.
A single winner could claim yearly payments or a one-time cash option of $462 million, Mega Millions spokeswoman Kelly Cripesaid.
The previous largest Mega Millions jackpot was $390 million in 2007, and was split between two ticket holders in Georgia and New Jersey.
About half of the lottery money is paid out to ticket holders in the form of winnings, 35 percent to state governments and 15 percent to retailer commissions and lottery operating expenses.