U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for January 16

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

PROHIBITION

Profile America — Friday, January 16th. There have been 27 ratified amendments to the U.S. Constitution over the past 223-plus years, but that total comes with an asterisk. Uniquely, the 21st Amendment repeals the 18th, which began its short career this day in 1919. That amendment launched the Prohibition Era, a well-intentioned act of social hygiene, seeking to ban the availability of alcoholic beverages. The unintended consequences, though, were perhaps worse — vast flouting of the law by the public and a boost to organized crime. Prohibition was repealed in December 1933. In the no-longer-dry U.S., there are over 249 distilleries and 880 breweries, with combined annual sales of about $34.5 billion per year. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Anniversary: http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1920/january_16_1920_80468.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Distilleries/NAICS 31214: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=BP_2012_00A1&prodType=table
Breweries/NAICS 31212: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=BP_2012_00A1&prodType=table
Distilleries' shipment value: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ASM_2011_31GS201&prodType=table
Breweries shipment value/NAICS 312120: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ASM_2011_31VS201&prodType=table

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov