Operation Paperclip was a secret United States programme that brought German scientists, engineers and technicians to work for the American government after the Second World War, so that their knowledge was not taken by the Soviet Union. More than a thousand specialists came, in fields such as rocketry, aviation and medicine, among them Wernher von Braun, who led the development of the V-2 missile and later of the Saturn V rocket for NASA. Many of them had been members of the Nazi Party or had worked with forced labour, and officials sometimes concealed or altered records of their pasts. The programme was highly controversial, and some of the participants were later investigated or lost their positions. The Soviets carried out their own similar programme.
Before and after
- 19 June 1945Birth of Aung San Suu Kyi
- 26 June 1945Charter of the United Nations
- 16 July 1945Trinity
- from 17 July 1945 to 2 August 1945Potsdam Conference
- from 20 July 1945 to 1 January 1959Operation Paperclip
- 26 July 1945Potsdam Declaration
- 26 July 1945Birth of Helen Mirren
- 30 July 1945Birth of Patrick Modiano
- 2 August 1945Potsdam Agreement
More in Wars, politics & history
- 6 August 1945Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- from January 1978 to February 1979Iranian Revolution
- from 25 December 1979 to 15 February 1989Soviet-Afghan War
- from 22 September 1980 to 20 August 1988Iran–Iraq War
- 7 October 2023Gaza genocide
- 28 February 20262026 Iran War
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.