January 16, 1920: Prohibition begins.Prohibition of alcohol began today when the 18th Amendment went into effect. On this day in 1920, The Evening Gazette printed a statement from Morris Sheppard, author of the amendment. Sheppard stated that prohibition meant "a rise to a higher and better plane of civilization for the United States. It means more savings, more homes, better health and better morals. It means that the American republic has achieved a distinctive triumph for right and righteousness in the low and bitter struggle between good and evil." Prohibition ended when the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933.
