On This Day, Jan. 16: 18th Amendment -- prohibition of alcohol -- ratified

UPI Staff
·2 min read
New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach (R) watches agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of prohibition. On January 16, 1919, the United States went legally "dry" when the 36th state ratified the 18th Amendment. File Photo courtesy Library of Congress
New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach (R) watches agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of prohibition. On January 16, 1919, the United States went legally "dry" when the 36th state ratified the 18th Amendment. File Photo courtesy Library of Congress
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Jan. 16 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1581, the English Parliament outlawed Roman Catholicism.

In 1919, the United States went legally "dry" when the 36th state ratified the 18th Amendment. Prohibition went into effect one year later and the amendment was repealed in 1933.

In 1942, screen star Carole Lombard, her mother and 20 other people were killed in a plane crash near Las Vegas. Lombard was the wife of actor Clark Gable.

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan called for "peaceful competition" with Moscow. He authorized research and development on space-age weapons capable of destroying incoming nuclear missiles -- the program known as "Star Wars."

On January 16, 1942, screen star Carole Lombard, her mother and 20 other people were killed in a plane crash near Las Vegas. File Photo by Paul Hesse/Wikimedia
On January 16, 1942, screen star Carole Lombard, her mother and 20 other people were killed in a plane crash near Las Vegas. File Photo by Paul Hesse/Wikimedia
UPI File Photo
UPI File Photo

In 1990, Soviet troops entered Azerbaijan amid fighting between Christian Armenians and Islamic Azerbaijani in Azerbaijan in the waning days of the central government's power.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speaks during a meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on February 27, 2015. On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia's president. She was the first female elected head of state in Africa. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speaks during a meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on February 27, 2015. On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia's president. She was the first female elected head of state in Africa. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

In 1997, the 28-year-old son of TV star Bill Cosby, Ennis Cosby, was shot to death in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles while changing a flat tire on his car.

In 2001, President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was shot to death by one of his bodyguards, who was killed by other guards.

In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia's president. She was the first female elected head of state in Africa.

In 2014, Major League Baseball announced a "historic" expansion of instant replay to review close calls -- starting in the 2014 season.

In 2022, the Australian government deported Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic after he lost an 11th-hour bid in court to save his chances to compete in the Australian Open despite refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.