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FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation

History

History

  • A Brief History
  • Directors, Then and Now
  • Famous Cases & Criminals
  • Field Office Histories
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A Brief History

A Brief History

This was a time when America needed a new kind of agency to protect and defend against rampant…


Directors, Then and Now

Directors, Then and Now

Since its beginning in 1908, the FBI has been led by a single individual. At first called “Chief…

Famous Cases & Criminals

Famous Cases & Criminals

John Dillinger. Al Capone. The KKK. The Unabomber. John Gotti. Bonnie and Clyde. The FBI has investigated them…


Field Office Histories

Field Office Histories

Each of the FBI’s 56 field offices has its own story to tell—a piece of the…

Wall of Honor

Wall of Honor

We will never forget our fallen FBI Family members. These employees are memorialized on this page as well…

Stories & Multimedia

Stories & Multimedia

Collection of the regular series of stories, videos, and other multimedia on the Bureau's past and related…

Timeline

Timeline

Key dates and milestones in the history of the FBI decade-by-decade from 1908 until the present.

Reports & Publications

Reports & Publications

Read our full-length history publications and several shorter specialized histories, including the early days of the Bureau.

FBI Vault

FBI Vault

The Vault is the FBI's electronic FOIA Library, containing nearly 7,000 documents and other media that have been scanned from paper into digital copies so you can read…


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