Forensics History Timeline

  • 44 BCE

    Julius Caeser

    Julius Caeser
    This was the first time forensics was documented and used to determine how Caeser died. He was stabbed 23 times and only one was fatal Link text
  • Mathieu Orfila

    Mathieu Orfila
    Considered the father of toxicology, which is the study of chemicals for forensic analysis such as asphyxiation, the decomposition of bodies, and exhumation
  • Photo Identification

    Photo Identification
    Invented by William Fox Talbot, negative positive photographic which revolutionized the ability to identify someone based on documents and IDs Link text
  • Facial Reconstruction

    Facial Reconstruction
    Using artistic skill and a scientific method a face can be reconstructed so the identity of a victim can be determined using remains of the face. This process was invented by Hermann Welcker Link text
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    Writer of the Sherlock Holmes Series and introduced the public to forensic science.
  • Francis Galton

    Francis Galton
    First man to show by scientific training that fingerprints could be a way to identify individuals
  • Alphonse Bertillion

    Alphonse Bertillion
    He was the first man to develop a standard by which to identify criminals by head length, head breadth, length of middle finger, length of the left foot, and length of the cubit.
  • Albert S Osborn

    Albert S Osborn
    The writer of Questioned Documents which is a book on how to identify fake or forged document.
  • Hair

    Hair
    Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert published their first study on hair using microscopes and was able to identify people based off of hair left at a crime scene
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  • Leone Lattes

    Leone Lattes
    Italian Forensics scientist who discovered how to use an anti body test with dried blood samples which could categorize them into blood types.
  • Calvin Goddard

    Calvin Goddard
    Developed the Comparison Microscope which led to better ballistic analysis
  • DNA Sequencing

    DNA Sequencing
    This process was able to determine the order of the nucleic acid order/sequence that can be used to determine criminals identify
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  • Kary B Mullis

    Kary B Mullis
    This man invented the polymerase chain reaction which is a method of producing many copies of a specific piece of DNA