In 1950, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
, under Director
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation â ...
, began to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the
Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.
The concept of the list began in late 1949, when the FBI helped publish an article about the "toughest guys" the Bureau was after, who remained fugitives from justice. The
Washington Daily News
The ''Washington Daily News'' is an American, English language daily newspaper headquartered in and serving Washington, North Carolina and Beaufort County, North Carolina. It was established in 1909. The paper also uses Facebook for sharing new ...
article was titled, "FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives Named," and appeared on February 7, 1949. The positive publicity from the story resulted in the birth of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list on March 14, 1950.
Starting in 1950, the top ten fugitives were entered into a handwritten log book. The Fugitive Publicity employees of the FBI used the log book to record and track the "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" by this method until 1991.
1950 Fugitives
The Ten Most Wanted Fugitives listed by the FBI in 1950 include (in FBI list appearance sequence order):
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By the end of the year, only three of the original Ten Fugitives still remained on the FBI list.
Later entries
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2020s
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2010s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 2010s is a list, maintained for a seventh decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. At any given time, the FBI is actively searching for 12,000 fu ...
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2000s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 2000s is a list, maintained for a sixth decade, of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. At any given time, the FBI is act ...
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1990s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1990s is a list, maintained for a fifth decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
FBI headlines in the 1990s
As a decade, the 1990s list stands ...
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1980s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1980s is a list, maintained for a fourth decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
FBI headlines in the 1980s
During the 1980s, the FBI added the ...
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s
The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1970s is a list, maintained for a third decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
FBI headlines in the 1970s
As a decade, the 1970s are marked b ...
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1960s
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FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1950s
In the 1950s, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI began to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Following is a brief review of FBI people and events th ...
References
External links
Current FBI top ten most wanted fugitives at FBI siteFBI pdf source document listing all Ten Most Wanted year by year (removed by FBI)
{{FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by year
1950 in the United States