1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On this day in 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed the Economic Assistance Act, which authorized the creation of a program that would help the nations of Europe recover and rebuild after the devastation wrought by World War II. The Marshall Plan aimed to stabilize Europe economically and politically to ward off the appeal of communist parties. Secretary of State George C. Marshall called for the plan in 1947, and The Committee of European Economic Cooperation eventually presented a unified plan before Congress, which authorized the Economic Cooperation Act on April 2, 1948. Truman signed it the following day. It gave $13 billion in aid over four years, mostly in direct grants and loans, to the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey and West Germany. Participating countries saw their gross national products go up by 15 to 25 percent.
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