April 3

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Pony Express debuts, 1860
American Revolution
Congress authorizes privateers to attack British vessels, 1776
Automotive
"Fast & Furious" is top opening-day car movie, 2009
Civil War
Confederate capital of Richmond is captured, 1865
Cold War
Truman signs Foreign Assistance Act, 1948
Crime
Jesse James is murdered, 1882
Disaster
Series of deadly twisters hits U.S. heartland, 1974
General Interest
Jesse James shot in the back, 1882
Bruno Hauptmann executed, 1936
Truman signs Marshall Plan, 1948
Unabomber arrested, 1996
Ron Brown killed in plane crash, 1996
Hollywood
Annie Hall beats out Star Wars for Best Picture, 1978
Literary
ACLU says it will contest obscenity of HOWL, 1955
Music
The Louisiana Hayride radio program premieres on KWKH-AM Shreveport, 1948
Old West
Texas Ranger "Big Foot" Wallace born, 1817
Presidential
President Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan, 1945
Sports
Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stops Gretzky streak, 1988
Vietnam War
Nixon administration will "Vietnamize" the war, 1969
Nixon orders response to North Vietnamese invasion, 1972
World War I
Ferdinand Foch becomes supreme Allied commander, 1918
World War II
Japanese launch major offensive against Bataan, 1942

General Interest

Apr 3, 1948:

Truman signs Marshall Plan

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On April 3, 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs into law the Foreign Assistance Act, commonly known as the Marshall Plan. Named after U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the program channeled more than $13 billion in aid to Europe between 1948 and 1951. Meant to spark economic recovery in European countries devastated by World War II, the plan also saved the United States from a postwar recession by providing a broader market for American goods. However, because the USSR prevented countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia from participating, the plan also contributed to the raising of the "Iron Curtain" between Eastern and Western Europe.

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This Week in History, Apr 3 - Apr 9

Apr 03, 1882
Jesse James shot in the back
Apr 03, 1936
Bruno Hauptmann executed
Apr 03, 1948
Truman signs Marshall Plan
Apr 03, 1996
Unabomber arrested
Apr 03, 1996
Ron Brown killed in plane crash
Apr 04, 1841
President Harrison dies after one month in office
Apr 04, 1918
Second Battle of the Somme ends
Apr 04, 1949
NATO established
Apr 05, 1951
Rosenbergs sentenced to die
Apr 05, 1955
Winston Churchill resigns
Apr 05, 1992
Abortion rights advocates march on Washington
Apr 06, 1830
Mormon Church established
Apr 06, 1909
Peary's expedition reaches North Pole?
Apr 06, 1917
America enters World War I
Apr 07, 1953
Hammarskjold elected U.N. head
Apr 07, 1963
Tito is made president for life
Apr 07, 2012
Longtime “60 Minutes” journalist Mike Wallace dies
Apr 08, 563 B.C.
Buddhists celebrate birth of Gautama Buddha
Apr 08, 1935
WPA established by Congress
Apr 08, 1953
Kenyatta jailed for Mau Mau uprising
Apr 09, 1939
Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial
Apr 09, 1940
Germany invades Norway
Apr 09, 1959
First astronauts introduced
Apr 09, 2005
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles wed

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