There have been 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution over the past 222 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 Prohibition was repealed in December 1933.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 31,000 beer, wine and liquor stores, with annual sales over $36 billion. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.