1874
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union is formed.

1893
The Anti-Saloon League is formed.

1900
Carry Nation begins her temperance crusade.

1917
The Eighteenth Amendment is passed by Congress; America enters World War I.

1918
World War I ends.

1919
Thirty-six states (two-thirds majority) ratify the Eighteenth Amendment.

1919
The Volstead Act is passed by Congress.

1920
The passing of the Nineteenth Amendment allows women to vote.

1920
Prohibition officially begins.

1920
Warren G. Harding is elected the twenty-ninth president of the United States.

1922
There are estimated to be five thousand speakeasies in New York alone.

1925
Al Capone takes charge of the Torrio gang in Chicago.

1926
Over 750 deaths are attributed to bad alcohol.

1928
Herbert Hoover is elected the thirtieth president of the United States.

1929
The Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform is formed. The stock market crashes, setting off the Great Depression. It is estimated there are ten thousand speakeasies in Chicago.

1933
The Twenty-first Amendment is passed, ending...