On this day in 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act over the veto of President Wilson. The act was designed to enforce the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919) which established the prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The act defined ‘intoxicating beverages’ as those containing more than 0.5% alcohol. The act also set forth the fines and jail sentences for the manufacture, sale and movement of alcoholic beverages.
The production, importation, and distribution of alcoholic beverages—once the province of legitimate business—was taken over by criminal gangs, which fought each other for market control in violent confrontations, including murder. Major gangsters, such as Omaha’s Tom Dennison and Chicago’s Al Capone, became rich, and were admired locally and nationally.
the Act allowed 200 gallons of “non-intoxicating cider and fruit juice” to be made each year at home. Some vineyards embraced the sale of grapes for making wine at home. Vine-Glo was produced ostensibly to let people make grape juice from concentrate but it included a warning on its packaging telling people how to make wine from it.
On December 5, 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, voiding the Volstead Act and restoring control of alcohol to the states.
British road signs…
Halloween gone wrong
Halloween pickle?
Marge Simpson?
Duct tape
Stanley Cup
FoilMan??
On this day in 1972, Stevie Wonder released his 15th studio album Talking Book. The album’s first track, ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’, hit No.1 on the Billboard charts, and earned Wonder his first Grammy Award. The album featured a guest appearance of Jeff Beck on the track ‘Superstition’.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYj1DMHwFy4
