This Day in History: U.S. President Truman signed the Marshall Plan into effect

The following are some of the major events to have occurred on April 3:

1948 – U.S. President Truman signed the Marshall Plan into effect, allocating $6 billion in overseas economic aid.

1949 – Transjordan signed an armistice with the newly founded state of Israel.

1975 – Russia’s Anatoly Karpov was proclaimed world chess champion after U.S. holder Bobby Fischer refused to defend his title.

2001 – National Space Development Agency of Japan unveils world’s first prototype of a touchable computer display.

2002 – The Afghan Army was reborn when the first 600 soldiers trained for six weeks by international peacekeepers graduated in a ceremony attended by interim leader Hamid Karzai.

2005 – Ashrita Furman sets new world record by walking 11.3 km (7 miles) balancing a billiard cue on the tip of his finger.

2005 – Hong Kong sprinter “Silent Witness” equals world record of 16 consecutive victories.

2006 – Syrian writer Mohammad al-Maghout, whose poems and plays fiercely criticised Arab regimes, died aged 72.

2007 – A French TGV train set a new world speed record, travelling at 574.8 kilometres per hour (357 mph).

2014 – Georgian swimmer sets new record for swimming 25 metres in handcuffs and leg chains.

2016 – 40th Paris Marathon.

(Reuters)