BBB Etymology - Read the Riot Act

This saying, meant to scold and warn people for breaking the rules, stems from Britain in the early 18th century, a time of serious social and political unrest. Fearing revolt by those opposed to the reign of George I, the government passed the Riot Act of 1715, banning disruptive assemblies of more than twelve persons. To invoke the Riot Act, a "justice of the peace or like person" had to read a portion of the act aloud to the crowd, ordering them to disperse: "Our sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God save the King." Members of the crowd who failed to disperse within an hour were deemed felons and could face life imprisonment or worse. Britain repealed the Riot Act in 1973, but "unlawful assembly" statutes are still in force in most countries, including the U.S., today.