1920 - 18th Amendment to the Constitution Enacted

18th Amendment to the US Constitution enacted, calling for the banning of the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages. While Prohibition was expected to help the American economy and citizens, it soon backfired. Jobs and businesses were lost, restaurants and theaters lost revenue and the government lost $11 billion in excise tax revenue. Crime rates increased and an average of 1,000 Americans died each year during Prohibition due to poisons from poor alcohol manufacturing.