Q 01/05

On what date did the United States officially go 'dry' under the Eighteenth Amendment?

A) July 4, 1920

B) December 5, 1921

C) January 17, 1920

D) January 16, 1919

Answer · why

C) January 17, 1920

The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919 and took effect one year later, on January 17, 1920; Connecticut and Rhode Island were the o...

Q 02/05

What was the popular name of the 1919 law that defined 'intoxicating liquors' and set penalties for making them?

A) The Hobson Act

B) The Mann Act

C) The Sheppard Act

D) The Volstead Act

Answer · why

D) The Volstead Act

The Volstead Act, named for Minnesota congressman Andrew Volstead, became law in October 1919 when Congress overrode Woodrow Wilson's veto; it defined...

Q 03/05

By 1925, roughly how many speakeasies were estimated to be operating in New York City alone?

A) Around 3,000

B) Over 250,000

C) Around 10,000

D) 30,000 to 100,000

Answer · why

D) 30,000 to 100,000

Estimates for New York City by 1925 ranged from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasies; police commissioner Grover Whalen put the figure at 32,000 in 1929.

Q 04/05

Al Capone was finally sent to prison in 1931 for what crime?

A) First-degree murder

B) Bootlegging liquor

C) Tax evasion

D) Extortion racketeering

Answer · why

C) Tax evasion

Capone was convicted of tax evasion in October 1931 and sentenced to eleven years; he served part of it at the new federal penitentiary on Alcatraz fr...

Q 05/05

How many men were killed in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929?

A) Four

B) Nine

C) Five

D) Seven

Answer · why

D) Seven

Seven men were lined up against a garage wall at 2122 North Clark Street and shot on February 14, 1929; two gunmen wore police uniforms, and target Bu...