Archive Gallery: The Science of Prohibition, 1919-1933
May 1930 At the dawn of Prohibition, the future of happy hour looked bleak, but PopSci's archives reveal that within every speakeasy resides a science lab, and within every bootlegger, an unlikely inventor or chemist The future of breweries looked dim on January 16, 1919, when the Eighteenth Amendment and the accompanying Volstead Act banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating beverages. Unsurprisingly, the black market was more than happy to help people drink without getting caught. Popular Science had some ideas too. Click to launch the photo gallery. Despite the Progressives' intention to improve society by banning liquor, Prohibition became an era characterized by seedy glamor and organized crime. Between 1920 and 1933, we filled our pages with panicked headlines: "Poisons....Lurk in Bootleg Booze," so naturally, "Millions of Americans Are Committing Slow Suicide." We weren't exaggerating -- thanks to the carelessness of bootleggers, thousands of people died after drinking liquor...