history of forensic science

  • Feb 13, 1248

    Early Forensic Study

    Early Forensic Study
    The first written account of using medicine and entomology to solve (separate) criminal cases is attributed to the book of Xi Yuan Lu , written in Song Dynasty China by Song Ci in 1248.
  • The first microscope is developed.

    The first microscope is developed.
    The first microscope to be developed was the optical microscope, although the original inventor is not easy to identify. An early microscope was made in 1590 in Middelburg, Netherlands.[
  • Physical Matching

    Physical Matching
    John Toms of Lancaster, England is convicted of murder on the basis of a torn wad of paper found in a pistol matching a remaining piece in his pocket. One of the first documented uses of physical matching.
  • Bullet Matching

    Bullet Matching
    Henry Goddard of Scotland Yard first uses bullet comparison to catch a murderer. The comparison was based in a visible flaw in the bullet, traced back to a mold.
  • Forensic Photography

    Forensic Photography
    Odelbrecht first advocates the use of photography for the identification of criminals and the documentation of evidence and crime scenes.
  • Modus Operandi

    Modus Operandi
    Alphonse Bertillon identifies the first repeat offender based on his invention of anthropometry.
  • First Fingerprinting Bureau

    First Fingerprinting Bureau
    Sir Francis Galton publishes his book “Fingerprints”, establishing the individuality of fingerprints and a first classification system.
    Juan Vucetich develops the fingerprint classification system that comes to be used in Latin America.
  • Excharge Principle

    Excharge Principle
    Edmund Locard, successor to Lacassagne as professor of forensic medicine at the University of Lyons, France,
    established the first police crime laboratory.
    Albert S. Osborne, an American and arguably the most influential document examiner, published Questioned
    Documents.
  • specific antigens into body fluid

    specific antigens into body fluid
    Japanese scientist Saburo Sirai is credited with the first recognition of secretion of group-specific antigens into body fluids other than blood.
  • Luminol

    Luminol
    Walter Specht develops the chemiluminescent reagent luminal as a presumptive test for blood.
  • Bite Marks

    Bite Marks
    The first published account involving a conviction based on bite marks as evidence was in the case of Doyle vs. State.
  • Voiceprints

    Voiceprints
    Developed by Bell Laboratories in the late 1940s for military intelligence purposes olny.But Voiceprints did not start began used until 1960.A personds voice can be recorded on an instrument called the sound spectrograph. Recordings on phones, answering machines and orr tape recorders could then be used as evidence in court.Developed by Bell Laboratories in the late 1940s for military intelligence purposes
  • Automated Fingerprint Identification System

    Automated Fingerprint Identification System
    The FBI introduced the AFIS with the first computerized system of fingerprints.
  • DNA Profiling

    DNA Profiling
    The DNA profiling technique was first reported in 1985 by Sir Alec Jefferys.
  • Combined DNA Index System

    Combined DNA Index System
    FBI laboratories began a project with six states and local crime laboratories to develop software to support each laboratory's DNA testing.
  • Footwear coding and detection management system

    Footwear coding and detection management system
    The Forensic Science Service launches the UK’s first online footwear coding and detection management system, Footwear Intelligence Technology.