Friday, January 4, 1901. Selling alcohol and drugs to "aboriginal tribes and uncivilized people".

Congress passed the Native Races Act prohibiting the sale of alcohol or opium to "aboriginal tribes and uncivilized people"

The law replicated a situation which already existed in many states.  For example, Wyoming's law provided;

§ 5814. Selling liquor to Indians. Any person who shall sell, barter or give away any spirituous or intoxicating liquor to any Indian or Indians, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined in any sum not more than one thousand dollars, to which may be added imprisonment in the county jail for any period not more than six months. [ L. 1890 , ch . 73 , § 147 ; R. S. 1899 , § 4974. ] 

These laws are Unconstitutional. 

Alcohol, which didn't exist in large quantities in Native American societies before the arrival of European Americans (it did exist, as did other intoxicants) was and remains a real problem.  An anthropology professor I had at Casper College maintained that this was due to Native Americans being exposed to the worst European Americans, who were alcohol abusers themselves.  However, it's now widely believed that there's a genetic component to this and to quote a scientific study of the matter:

Substance dependence has a substantial genetic component in Native Americans, similar in magnitude to that reported for other populations. The high rates of substance dependence seen in some tribes is likely a combination of a lack of genetic protective factors (metabolizing enzyme variants) combined with genetically mediated risk factors (externalizing traits, consumption drive, drug sensitivity/tolerance) that combine with key environmental factors (trauma exposure, early age of onset of use, environmental hardship/contingencies) to produce increased risk for the disorder.

Evidence for a Genetic Component for Substance Dependence in Native Americans, Cindy L Ehlersm Ian R Gizer.

Last edition:

Tuesday, January 1, 1901. The Commonwealth of Australia comes into being.

Labels: 1900s, 1901, Australia, Protestant, religion, Washington DC, William McKinley

Wednesday, December 30, 1925. Ben-Hur.

The first variant of Ben-Hur was released.

I tried listening to the book as an audio book once, but gave it up.  I should either try that again, or read it.

The Association of College Honor Societies was formed by representatives of six organizations, Alpha Omega Alpha; the Order of the Coif; Phi Beta Kappa; Phi Kappa Phi; Sigma Xi; Tau Beta Pi.  While nothing compared to the post World War Two boom in college attendance, the 1920s did see an increase in it, including an increase in female attendance.

Adding an item that would have properly been posted yesterday, but we were unaware of it, on December 28, 1925, this patent was granted:

We do not wish to be crude, but we do seek to track various developments on this blog.  Indeed, that's one of its main purposes.  This is a real development. This is a sanitary belt for menstruation, a very common, indeed the normal, method of addressing sanitary concerns until the tampon became common which wasn't really until the 1970s.

Anyhow, women in their current societal roles necessitated inventions such as this.  Kotex, the primary brand, was not introduced until 1920.

Related threads:

Clothing: It was because of World War One.

Labels: 1910s, Clothing, It was because of World War One, It was because of World War Two, Men, Standards, The roles of men and women, Women, World War One, World War Two, Yeoman's Fourth Law of History

Women and Trousers. No big historical deal, or the triumph of the harpies in trousers?

Labels: Christianity, Clothing, Islam, religion, Standards, The roles of men and women, trends, Women, World War One, Yeoman's Fourth Law of History

Last edition:

Sunday, December 27, 1925. Between time.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, Cartoons, Christianity, Coal, Coptic, Disaster, Mexico, Mining, Oriental Orthodox