Operation Paperclip begins.

Originally Operation Overcast, the top-secret Army Intelligence Service project welcomes seven German scientists, including Werner von Braun, to Fort Strong on Long Island. Defectors from the Nazi regime, they are subsequently interviewed and assigned to develop rockets, chemical and biological weapons, and other projects for the U.S. government. The Germans call their quarters the Haus der Deutschen Wissenschaft (“House of German Science”). To preserve the secrecy of the program, German prisoners are used to staff the camp, since they are allowed no contact with the outside world.