Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage in a United States court on March 29, 1951 for spying on the development of the atomic bomb, the Manhattan Project, and giving that information to the Soviet Union.
Julius Rosenberg was a member of the Communist Party USA during World War II and was recruited by a Soviet spy to provide the Soviets with U.S. military intelligence and weapons projects. Both Julius and his wife Ethel were very left-leaning politically and supported communist agendas in the U.S. during the 1930s and 1940s.
The recruitment of Julius as a Soviet spy was fully divulged when his former Soviet handler, Alexander Feklisov, published a book in 2001.
The Rosenburg’s spy operation came to light when British authorities arrested a Klaus Fuchs, a British physicist, in England in February 1950. The British investigation into Fuchs was assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Fuchs worked on the development of the atomic bomb for the Manhattan Project in the U.S. and England. He confessed to authorities that he passed information about the development of the bomb to a courier for the Soviets and that the courier was Harry Gold.
U.S. authorities quickly arrest Gold and he confesses that he also received information about the development for the bomb from David Greenglass. Greenglass had worked in the laboratory that developed the atomic bomb.
When Greenglass is arrested, he confesses that he was recruited by his sister Ethel and brother-in-law Julius to provide the information and both Ethel and Julius controlled the operation.
Julius and Ethel were arrested in the early part of the second half of 1950. Their trial began on March 6, 1951 and they were convicted on March 29. They were sentenced to death and executed on June 19, 1953 by electrocution at Sing Sing Prison in New York.
The Rosenbergs were the only Americans to be executed for espionage during the Cold War.
Despite the evidence and testimony from members of the Rosenberg’s espionage ring, the Rosenbergs maintained their innocence. Prosecutors described Ethel as the brain of the operation during trial.
Daniel F. Bakeman holds two records. He was the last confirmed living American Revolutionary War veteran, dying in 1869, aged 109. He also holds the record for the longest marriage, 91 years, 12 days. The longest-ever recorded marriage.
"Coming down Steadman Ave., Nome (Alaska) July 4th, 1901"
On March 30th, 1867 the treaty for the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million was signed.
After the purchase most Russian settlers living in Alaska left the new U.S. Territory.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
