Video: 'Prohibition in the United States: National Ban of Alcohol'

(Saturday, January 17, 1920, 12:01 a.m. EST) — The prohibition of “intoxicating liquors” in the United States began early this morning as the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect, one year to the day after its ratification.

This rang in the era of bootleg liquor when people whispered passwords through speak-easy doors, flappers ruled the dance floor and mobsters like Al Capone made millions from a thirsty public.

The Eighteenth Amendment would be repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933.

Video: 'Byrd's First Antarctic Expedition 1928' (crew reaches South Pole at 38:44)

(Friday, November 29, 1929, 114 GMT) — Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd, pilot Bernt Balchen, radio operator Harold June and photographer Ashley McKinney today became the first people to fly over the South Pole as they flew the Floyd Bennett to the South Pole and back to Little America, Antarctica, on the Ross Ice Shelf, south of the Bay of Whales, in 18 hours, 41 minutes. Continue reading Byrd and three crewmen become first people to fly over South Pole 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 28 1929) →

Video: '1929 Wall Street Stock Market Crash' (Oct. 29, 1929, at 5:41)

(Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. EST) — On the fourth and final day of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, stock prices virtually collapsed today, swept downward with gigantic losses in the most disastrous trading day in the New York Stock Exchange’s history.

Investors traded a record 16.4 million shares as panic selling reached its peak.

Video: 'Herbert Hoover Biography' (Oct. 1929, at 12:28)

$14 billion in open market values was lost, wiping out thousands of investors and setting the stage for the Great Depression, the longest, deepest, and most widespread economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time.

Video: 'The Crash of 1929 & The Great Depression (PBS) 5of6' (Oct. 29, 1929, at 6:03)

The Dow lost an additional 30 points, or 12 percent.

The Dow would continue to slide for three more years, bottoming out on July 8, 1932, having lost almost 90 percent of its value since its peak on Sept. 3, 1929.

Video: '1929 Wall Street Stock Market Crash' (Oct. 24, 1929, at 3:55)

(Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, 10:00 a.m. EST) — The New York Stock Exchange plunged 11 percent at the opening bell on very heavy trading today, precipitating the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s. Continue reading Black Thursday: Wall Street Crash of 1929 begins 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 24 1929) →