July 26 (UPI) -- On this date in history: In 1775, Congress establishes the U.S. postal system. In 1847, Liberia became a republic and Africa's first sovereign, Black-ruled democratic nation. In 1908, the FBI was born as the Bureau of Investigation, or BOI, when a group of newly hired investigators reported to the Justice Department. The special unit officially became the FBI in 1935. In 1931, swarms of grasshoppers decimated millions of acres of crops throughout the southwestern United States.