#TBT: FDR Ends Prohibition

 

     On March 22nd, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, effectively ending federal prohibition on April 7th of that year. In the midst of the Great Depression, Roosevelt made a famous statement at its signing: "I think now would be a good time for a beer." As such, the day is now celebrated as National Beer Day. Nullified was the Volstead Act, which banned liquor in 1919 and led to a surge in black market crime and related violence.