OCTOBER 28th - Because of Booze


(Seriously, tell me this guy isn't more annoying than Nickleback.)


On this day in 1919, the Volstead Act became law after Congress overruled President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. The Volstead Act, if you need a quick refresher because you were drunk in your high school history classes, was basically the law that regulated the Eighteenth Amendment also known as the “people-in-the-early-1900s-drank-way-too-much-so-lets-prohibit-fun-sauce-altogether” amendment. I believe Wilson came up with that term. Now, I’ve discussed Prohibition multiple times (June 9th, June 13th, and July 24th) and enumerated some long-term effects (organized crime, the rise of root beer), but I’ve left the Volstead Act untouched. Mainly because it’s an extremely convoluted document with numerous provisions. Because you could still drink in your home or a home in which you were a guest. But there were rules. Rules which a lot of people ignored. Because how do you ban booze? As I have previously noted (with beer) booze is in some way responsible for practically every major advancement in history. Greek Architecture. Roman Plumbing. French Wine. All made possible by alcohol. You want to ban something Congress? How about banning using too much glue on rolls of toilet paper so that getting the roll started isn’t an act as delicate as disarming a bomb (who thought I was going to say an Act of Congress?). I sometimes drink just to forget my frustration at the endeavor. Or how about outlawing Pitbull? Anything he creates--illegal. Or just erase his presence from every song. The most enjoyable part about Pitbull’s songs? Not Pitbull. So on this October 28th, kick back, have a drink, and give thanks that you now live in a country where you can drink until Pitbull sounds like Sinatra and you can shove shredded tp into a modern plumbing system that descended from Roman times. Because of booze.

This day has been Marked.

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