| 1908
|
At
the request of President Theodore Roosevelt, an investigative
branch of the Department of Justice was created. It was
headed by Chief Examiner Stanley Finch. |
| 1913
|
A.
Bruce Bielaski succeeded Stanley Finch as Chief of the
Bureau of Investigation. |
| June
1917 |
J.
Edgar Hoover began working with the Department of Justice
legal staff. |
| January
1920 |
Prohibition
began. Gangsterism
began its rise in the United States. |
| August
1921 |
William J. Burns was appointed Director of the Bureau
of Investigation; J. Edgar Hoover was named Assistant
Director. By 1924, there were 650 employees, including
441 Special Agents. |
| May
1924 |
J.
Edgar Hoover was named Acting Director of the Bureau of
Investigation. |
| October
1925 |
Edwin
C. Shanahan became the first FBI Agent killed in the
line of duty. |
| March
1929 |
Al
Capone was arrested by Bureau Agents. |
| November
1932 |
The FBI
Laboratory was established. |
| June
1933 |
The Bureau of Investigation became the Division of Investigation.
The Kansas
City Massacre occurred. |
| July
1934 |
John
Dillinger was killed by Federal Agents in Chicago. |
| July
1935 |
The Division of Investigation became the Federal Bureau
of Investigation. |
| August
1940 |
The Disaster
Squad was created when the FBI was called upon to
identify its employees involved in an airplane crash in
Virginia. |
| June
1942 |
Four German
saboteurs landed from a U-Boat on Long Island. Four
others landed in Florida. All eight were arrested by the
FBI. |
| November
1944 |
Two Nazi spies - William C. Colepaugh and Erich Gimpel
landed from a German submarine in Maine. They were arrested
by the FBI. |
| March
1950 |
The FBI's "Ten
Most Wanted Fugitives" Program began. |
| September
1953 |
6-year old Bobby
Greenlease, Jr. was kidnapped and murdered. |
| June
1957 |
FBI arrested Colonel
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, a Soviet espionage agent. He
was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but was later exchanged
for U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. |
| November
1963 |
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. President
Johnson ordered the FBI to investigate. |
| June
1964 |
Three civil
rights workers were murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi.
|
| July
4, 1966 |
President Johnson signed the Freedom Of Information Act
(FOIA). |
| January
1967 |
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) became operational. |
| June
1968 |
James Earl Ray was arrested in London. He was later convicted
of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| May
1972 |
The new FBI
Academy was opened on the United States Marine Corps
base at Quantico, Virginia. |
| July
1973 |
Clarence M. Kelley sworn in as FBI Director. |
| February
1978 |
William H. Webster sworn in as FBI Director. |
| April
1978 |
The use of laser technology to detect latent fingerprints
was initiated. |
| 1983
|
The Hostage
Rescue Team became operational. |
| 1984
|
National
Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) was
established at the FBI Academy. A Computer
Analysis and Response Team (CART) was established
to help field offices retrieve computer evidence. |
| November
1987 |
William S. Sessions was sworn in as FBI Director. By 1988,
the FBI employed 9,663 Special Agents and 13,651 support
personnel. |
| 1992
|
FBI Lab established its own Evidence
Response Team (ERT). |
| September
1993 |
Louis J. Freeh was sworn in as FBI Director. |
| April
1994 |
The Critical
Incident Response Group (CIRG) was created to more
effectively deal with hostage-taking and barricade situations.
|
| September
1995 |
Announcement of an undercover investigation, "Innocent
Images," which targeted child pornography over the
Internet. |
| June
1997 |
Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the bombing of the Murrah
Building in Oklahoma City -- one of the worst acts of
domestic terrorism in American history. |
| May
1998 |
Eric Robert Rudolph was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted
List after being charged with the Centennial Olympic Park
bombing in Atlanta and the bombing of a Birmingham abortion
clinic. |
| August
1998 |
Bombs were detonated near United States Embassies in Nairobi,
Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 223 people.
Among the dead were twelve Americans and thirty-eight
Foreign Service Nationals. The FBI sent representatives
to East Africa to assist in the search, rescue, and investigative
efforts. |
| June
1999 |
Osama
Bin Laden was placed on the FBI's Ten Mosted Wanted
List for his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombing of
the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. |
| September
1999 |
The FBI announced the ground breaking for its new Laboratory
facility in Quantico, Virgina. |
| February
2001 |
Special
Agent Robert P. Hanssen was arrested and charged with
committing espionage. |
| September
2001 |
Robert S. Mueller III became the Director of the FBI. |
| September
2001 |
Terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York
City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. |
| October
2001 |
The FBI and other agencies responded to anthrax-laden
letters. |
| December
2001 |
Director Mueller announced a reorganization of FBI Headquarters
to meet evolving challenges. |
