Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America: Einstein's Letter

"Einstein's Letter", part of the History Channel's Ten Days series, deals with specific side in the history of the Atomic Bomb. On December 6, 1941, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, a letter was delivered to President Roosevelt. It came from Albert Einstein, the famous Jewish-German scientist that was exiling in the US. The letter brought news and a concern: it was not only possible, but imperative that the United States build a nuclear bomb before the Nazis who were already at work on such a device. Behind the letter lay a story of scientific discovery and political intrigue. The hero of this behind-the-scenes tale was not Einstein but a Hungarian-born physicist named Leo Szilard. Szilard had not only figured out the principle of nuclear chain reaction, but had seen into the future and realized the urgent necessity of building a nuclear bomb. Including archive footage and historians interviews.