Events with tag - Espionage

September 23, 1780

Benedict Arnold's Treason Discovered

The pivotal moment in American Revolutionary War when Benedict Arnold's plot to surrender West Point to British forces was uncovered through the capture of Major John André carrying secret documents.

April 1, 1861

Elizabeth Van Lew's Union Spy Network

Elizabeth Van Lew, a Richmond socialite turned Union spy, established and operated the most successful Union intelligence network in the Confederate capital from 1861 to 1865. Despite her Confederate family background, she leveraged her social position to gather critical military intelligence while maintaining the deceptive persona of 'Crazy Bet'.

April 12, 1861

Rose O'Neal Greenhow Becomes Confederate Spy

Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a prominent Washington socialite, initiates her espionage activities for the Confederacy following the fall of Fort Sumter, establishing one of the most sophisticated intelligence networks of the Civil War era.

July 26, 1947

CIA Establishment

President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act into law, establishing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as America's premier foreign intelligence service. This pivotal legislation transformed the U.S. intelligence landscape, creating an organization that would become one of the world's most sophisticated spy agencies.

May 1, 1960

U-2 Spy Plane Incident

On May 1, 1960, Soviet forces shot down a U.S. U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers over Sverdlovsk, USSR. The incident caused a major diplomatic crisis between the United States and Soviet Union, leading to the collapse of the Paris Summit.