You may have heard by now that today is National Beer Day. You don’t really need to twist my arm to drink a good beer, but I decided to look into how this holiday came about. With a little research, I learned that April 7th, 1933 was the first day that alcohol, with restrictions, was allowed to be sold in the United States after years of Prohibition.

With the success that the craft beer industry is experiencing in our country, the thought of Prohibition seems mind boggling. Sadly, there was a period between 1920 and 1933 when the manufacturing, sale and transportation of alcohol were prohibited.

The following quote was taken from Britannica.Com:

“The public appetite for alcohol remained and was only intensified with the stock market crash of 1929. In March 1933, shortly after taking office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, which amended the Volstead Act, permitting the manufacturing and sale of low-alcohol beer and wines (up to 3.2 percent alcohol by volume). Nine months later, on Dec. 5, 1933, federal prohibition was repealed with the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment (which allowed prohibition to be maintained at the state and local levels). The Eighteenth Amendment is the only amendment to have secured ratification and later been repealed.”

Three cheers to President Franklin D. Roosevelt for signing the Cullen-Harrison Act. I was planning on having a beer this evening anyways, but I will be sure to have a second for President Roosevelt on National Beer Day!

-Peter Lopez Jr.