August “Gus” Knuth

MillwrightChicago, IL

Manhattan Project VeteranProject Worker/Staff

Listen to August “Gus” Knuth’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

August “Gus” Knuth was a millwright and carpenter who helped construct Chicago Pile-1. He was present on December 2, 1942 when the pile went critical in the first self-sustaining chain reaction in history.

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