For 13 years between the two world wars America was “dry.” A formidable array of forces lined up against the consumption of alcohol – religious groups, activists, anti-alcohol “temperance leagues” – all continually, and loudly proclaiming the evils of alcohol and drunkenness. Indeed, in the land where alcohol, per unit, cost less than coffee or tea, consumption was rampant: the average American consumed three to four times as much liquor in those decades than today. So overwhelming was the pressure to ban alcohol that Congress was forced to act.

On this day, January 16, 1920, Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto to pass the National Prohibition Act, for the 18th amendment to the constitution. The act prohibited the production, distribution and sale (though not consumption) of alcohol.

However well-intentioned, the “Noble Experiment” failed from the start – a wide swath of the population became involved in semi-legal or completely illegal alcohol production and distribution. Whether it was homemade still-runners who very often poisoned themselves with their own creation, or professional organized crime networks running bottles down from Canada, or clever grape juice sellers who with an wink and a nod warned customers not to “place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine.” The Prohibition was widely flouted, became increasingly unpopular and was finally repealed with an act in 1933.