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44 BCE
First autopsy
Julius caesar was assassinated. A physician performed an autopsy and determined that of the 23 wounds, only one was fatal. -
600
First use of fingerprints
Fingerprints were first used to figure out identity. Arabic merchants would take a debtors fingerprint and attach it to the bill. -
1248
First forensic science book
First forensic science manual published by the chinese. This manual was the first known record of medical knowledge being applied to forensic science. -
First pathology reports published
The first pathology report was published -
Physical evidence used in criminal case.
First record instance of physical evidence leading to a murder conviction. The evidence was a torn piece of newspaper in a pistol that matched the newspaper in his pocket. -
chemical testing utilized
James Marsh uses chemical processes to determine arsenic as cause of death. -
First use of photos in identification
San francisco uses photography for criminal identification(mugshot). -
Fingerprints found to be unique
Henry frauds and William james herschel publish paper describing the uniqueness of fingerprints, their findings were then adapted to court. Galton created the classification of fingerprints. -
Sherlock holmes and the coroner
The coroners act was created. This enacted the policy that coroners were to determine causes of unnatural deaths. -
Criminal features reduced to numerical measurements
Anthropometry, a system using various of measurements of physical feature and bones, could reduce criminal information to a set of numbers -
Fingerprint ID used in crime
Juan vucetich is the first to use fingerprints as evidence in a murder investigation. He invented a method of fingerprint identification known as dactyloscopy. -
Investigations into blood markers
Human blood grouping is adapted for use on bloodstains by Dieter Dax Richter. -
Learning about forensics
First school of forensic science was founded in switzerland. It was founded by Rodolphe archibald. -
Hair now used in forensics
Victor balthazard publish study on hair. Legal cases involving hair soon follow this study. -
Guns are unique
Victor balthazard figured out that gun barrels leave unique individual markings on each bullet fired. He developed methods to match bullets to guns. -
First police crime lab established in Los Angeles.
Officer rex welsh established one of the first modern laboratories in the united states. -
Lie detection
Prototype polygraph was invented by John Larson. Although it wasnt 100% accurate, this did still help in identifying guilty criminals. -
FBI established its own crime laboratory
FBI establishes its own crime lab, now one of the foremost crime labs in the world. A chair of legal medicine was established in the same year as well. -
Voice recording used as evidence
A sound spectrograph was discovered to be able to record voices. Voiceprints began to be used in investigations and as court evidence. -
First national crime system
FBI establishes the national crime information center, a electronic filing system in which stolen vehicles, wanted criminals,etc were kept. -
Advances in residue detection
Gunshot residue can now link a suspect to a crime scene and show how close and far the suspect was in relation to the gun. -
Auto fingerprint system
Auto fingerprint system is now implemented by canadian police. Fingerprints found at a crime scene can be compared to stored data of fingerprints on a computer. -
DNA teqnique for unique ID
DNA fingerprinting techniques developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys. This revolutionized forensic science. -
DNA catches criminal
Tommy Lee Andrews was convicted of sexual assaults by the use of DNA profiling. Andrews was released in 2021. -
DNA evidence certified
National Academy of Sciences announces DNA evidence is reliable. DNA can now be universally trusted in forensic science. -
Faster fingerprint IDs
FBI established fingerprint system that cuts down fingerprint inquiry response from two weeks to two hours. -
Faster DNA IDs
Technology speeds up DNA profiling time from 6-8 weeks to between 1-2 days. -
Footwear detection system
Britain's forensic science service develops online footwear coding and detection system. -
Detection of fingerprints after being removed
Scientist developed a way to see finger print residues on metal even after being removed or wiped away. -
Facial sketches matched to photos
Michigan state university developed software that automatically matches hand drawn facial sketches to mug shots stored in data bases. -
Four second dental match
Research team creates dental x ray matching system. This can match to dental x rays in databases. -
The innocense project
The innocence project announces partner ship with the FBI to review criminal cases that used DNA analysis techniques to determine if the suspect was guilty. -
DOJ launches national commision of science
Members of the commission will work to improve the practice of forensic science by developing guidance of the the intersections between forensic science and the criminal justice system -
super recognizers can be used to identify strangers on CCTV
A research paper found that people with extraordinary recognition skills may be suited for a job in nation security. -
Forensic science can be used to stop the slaughter of endangerd animals
Forensic scientists are proposing a series of changes to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to allow new technologies to be unleashed on the problem. -
Police can now use millions more of peoples DNA
A new technique can link the patchy, limited DNA information held in forensic databases to the rich DNA libraries held by family tree-building websites, raising further questions about genetic privacy. -
Bacteria could identify month old stains at crime scenes
Stains at crime scenes can sometimes be hard to identify, but the unique combination of bacteria they contain may help. This will allow forensic scientist to identify with greater accuracy and precision. -
George floyd death ruled as homocide
Forensic pathologists rule george floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest. -
A fingerprint can show if someone has taken or touched cocaine
A single fingerprint can distinguish whether someone has recently touched cocaine or actually ingested it. This test can be completed in less than 2 minutes, far quicker than blood tests, and could be used for forensic investigations or drug testing.