Honours and instruments of justice: on July 19, Bulgaria’s history records two acts of institutional building a generation apart, each shaping a different facet of the young state.
July 19, 1880 — Honoring the Liberation
By order of the War Ministry, Bulgaria instituted its first commemorative medal, “For the Liberation of 1877–1878,” marking the third anniversary of the fighting waged by the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps at Stara Zagora, Shipka, and Sheinovo during the Russo-Turkish War. The round medal, worn on a red ribbon edged in white, bore the crowned monogram of Prince Alexander I on its face.
It was later awarded to every surviving volunteer who had fought in those decisive battles. July 19 is also marked in Bulgaria today as Diplomatic Service Day.
July 19, 1907 — Founding Forensic Science in Bulgaria
Twenty-seven years later, Bulgaria’s first forensic science laboratory was established, giving investigators access to systematic scientific methods — fingerprinting, ballistics, and trace evidence analysis — for the first time in the country’s judicial history. The laboratory laid the institutional groundwork for what would later become the Research Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology under the Ministry of Interior, formally established in 1968.
It placed Bulgaria among the early adopters of modern criminal investigation techniques in southeastern Europe.
Read neighbouring entries: July 18 | July 20. Explore Bulgaria’s landscapes through Bulgaria From Above, or browse our Bulgaria guides.
