December 9: Manhattan Project Spies

On this date in History .... 1950:

Harry Gold

Harry Gold is sent to prison and is sentenced to 30 years in prison for espionage, starting a chain of events that would uncover a string of spies for the Soviets on the atomic bomb technology. 

Gold was a chemist from Philadelphia who had been a courier between Klaus Fuchs, (a British scientist who was stealing atomic bomb information), and the Soviets. Gold’s confession led to the arrest of David Greenglass, who was employed at Los Alamos where the Manhattan Project was being developed. Greenglass implicated his sister and brother-in-law, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, telling officials they were actively spying for the Soviets. 

The Rosenbergs

The Rosenbergs became the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed at Sing Sing for espionage during peacetime and their case remains controversial to this day.   Click here for video.

Harry Gold was paroled in 1965 after serving about half of his sentence.  He died in 1972.

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