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American Society for the Promotion of Temperance forms in Boston. -
Prohibition Party of the United States is founded, becoming America’s first, and now oldest, third party. James Black, a co-founder from Lancaster, became its first presidential candidate in 1872. -
Anti-Saloon League is founded in Oberlin, Ohio, then organized as a national society in 1895. -
States ratify the 16th Amendment, passed by Congress in 1909 to establish a federal income tax. Which reduces the government’s need to rely on revenue generated by taxing the alcohol industry. -
Congress passes the 18th Amendment, which would restrict the manufacture and sale of alcohol. States are given seven years to ratify the measure. -
Congress passes the 19th Amendment to give women the right to vote; ratified by the states on Aug. 18, 1920. Women were instrumental in the temperance movement. -
Commonly referred to at the time as June “Thirsty-First”, the first day after wartime prohibition started. -
Congress overrides President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the National Prohibition Act, commonly called the Volstead Act, which makes it illegal to manufacture beverages with more than a half-percent of alcohol and provides enforcement of the 18th Amendment. -
The United States goes dry, shutting down the country’s fifth-largest industry. -
The 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition is ratified.