Many conspiracy theories follow. Record-breaking numbers of people die. 1917 - Russia and a few of its neighbors become the first test case for Marx's theories. Unfortunately, some of the variables from the control group infect the sample and skew the results. Then Stalin comes in and really skews the results.
Ethanol is banned throughout the United States thanks to, of all things, a Constitutional amendment.
The Boston Red Sox win their last World Series. 1920 - 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, allowing all female U.S. citizens to vote. Unfortunately, they screw up their first chance big-time by electing Warren G. Harding president. This paves the way for the later invention of the TV Dinner, the Couch Potato, and Joanie Loves Chachi . 1928 - Alexander Fleming, a Scotsman, accidentally leaves one of his Petri dishes exposed to the air, and it gets infected with bread mold.