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(Tuesday, March 11, 1941, 3:50 p.m. EST; during World War II) — President Franklin D. Roosevelt today signed into law the Lend-Lease bill, which was mainly aimed at helping Britain, then virtually alone in fighting Nazi Germany during a critical phase of World War II.

The legislation gave the President the power to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend or otherwise dispose of” any military resources he deemed ultimately in the interest of the defense of the United States.

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Eager to bolster public support for the controversial program, FDR said the effort was comparable to someone lending his neighbor a garden hose to put out a fire in his home.

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Under the program, the United States supplied the United Kingdom (and British Commonwealth), Free France, the Republic of China, and later the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945. This included warships and warplanes, along with other weaponry.

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In general the aid was free, although some hardware (such as ships) were returned after the war. In return, the U.S. was given leases on army and naval bases in Allied territory during the war.