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1247
13th Century China
The first recorded investigation that uses forensics concepts takes place. Suspects in a stabbing are lined up with knives from their home until a fly lands on the knife that contains traces of blood. -
Mathieu Orfila
He is named the "father or forensic toxicology" because he was a chemist that published the first scientific paper on his findings in the effects of various poisons on animals. -
William Herschel
He used people's thumbprints on documents in order to record the identities of his workers in India. -
Alphonse Bertillon
He has been dubbed the "father of criminal identification" for his creation of anthropometry, the use of body measurements to tell individuals apart. -
Henry Faulds
Faulds used fingerprints in order to, for the first time in history, clear an innocent burglary suspect of guilt. -
Arthur Conan Doyle
He was a British author that published the first "Sherlock Holmes" story, popularizing the concept of crime scene investigation and instigating advancements in the former. -
Francis Galton
Galton published his book called "Finger Prints" in 1892, which detailed the first definitive study of fingerprints, their uniqueness, and their application in criminal investigations. -
Hans Gross
Gross wrote the first known paper that detailed the application of scientific principles in the investigation of crimes, publishing a book called "Criminal Investigation". -
Karl Landsteiner
Karl Landsteiner was the biologist that was responsible for discovering the ABO blood groups, allowing for the advancement and greater ease of transfusion. He received a Nobel Prize for his work. -
Edmond Locard
Locard used the principles and knowledge of Hans Gross in a crime lab, founding and directing the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons in France. -
Albert S. Osborn
He is the publisher of "Questioned Documents", a book on the analysis of documents in criminal investigations. He is known as the "father of the science of questioned document examination". -
Leone Lattes
He is the creator of the method for examining dry blood to determine the blood type. -
August Vollmer
As the chief of police, he established the first crime lab in the country in 1923. It's located in Los Angeles, California. -
Calvin Goddard
Goddard developed the comparison microscope, which used special lenses to allow the user to observe two specimens side-by-side and compare them. It was first applied to compare bullets to verify whether or not they were fired from the same gun.
