Forensics timeline

  • 1200

    China

    China
    First case ever recorded using forensic science. Someone was stabbed, all of the knives in the village were collected. Flies were attracted to the traces of blood and landed on only one of the knives, causing the suspect to confess.
  • Mathieu Orfila

    Mathieu Orfila
    Considered the "father of forensics" because he published the first scientific paper on the detection of poisons and their effects on animals.
  • William Herschel

    William Herschel
    Used Thumbprints to document workers in India.
  • Alphonse Bertillon

    Alphonse Bertillon
    "Father of Criminal Identification". Developed Anthropometry which uses body measurements to distinguish individuals
  • Henry Faulds

    Henry Faulds
    Uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect.
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    Published Sherlock Holmes story. Considered first "CSI".
  • Francis Galton

    Francis Galton
    Published "Fingerprints". Conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification. Fave proof of their uniqueness.
  • Hans Gross

    Hans Gross
    Wrote first paper describing the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation. Published "Criminal Investigation"
  • Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner
    Discovered the ABO blood types, later wont he Nobel Prize.
  • Edmond Locard

    Edmond Locard
    Incorporated Gross' principles within a workable crime lab; became the founder and director of the institute of criminalistics at the University of Lyons, France
  • Albert S. Osborn

    Albert S. Osborn
    Published "Questionable Documents". Developed the fundamental principles of document examinations.
  • Leone Lattes

    Leone Lattes
    Developed a method of determining blood type from dried blood.
  • August Vollmer

    August Vollmer
    Established the first crime lab in United States, located in Los Angeles.
  • Calvin Goddard

    Calvin Goddard
    Developed a comparison microscope; first used to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon.