Prohibition Era

The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which declared the production, transport and sale of alcohol illegal, is ratified on January 16, 1919 

The National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, was passed on October 28, 1919. 

The day the US went dry January  17, 1920 and stayed dry for 13 years, 10 months, 19 days, 17 hours, and 32.5 minutes!

William McCoy, a Florida skipper, pioneered the “rum-running” trade by sailing a schooner loaded with 1500 cases of liquor from Nassau in the British colony of the Bahamas to Savannah and pocketing $15,000 in profits from just one trip. 

In 1924, four years after Prohibition was first imposed, the Boston Herald offered $200 to the reader who came up with a brand-new word for someone who flagrantly ignored the edict and drank liquor that had been illegally made or illegally sold. Twenty-five thousand responded. Two readers split the prize. Each had come up with the same word – “scofflaw.” 

The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which repealed Prohibition, is ratified on December 5, 1933 and ended Prohibition.