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First time physical evidence was used in a criminal court case
John Toms was convicted of murder after a piece of paper found to hold and fire the gun was identical to one he had ripped from a newspaper and matched paper fragments found in his back pocket. -
First photos used for crime scene investigation
San Francisco started to use photos for criminal identification as well as crime scene investigation. They became the first city in the U.S. to do so. -
Anthropometric identification system is developed
Alphonse Bertillon, known as the father of personal identification, developed his anthropometric identification system to help better identify criminals and recidivists. His technique was used to identify 247 multiple offenders, distinguishing them from first time offenders. His technique was adopted by many police forces around the world. -
First person to be convicted due to fingerprint evidence
Harry Jackson was the first person in the United Kingdom to be convicted by fingerprint evidence after his fingerprints were found in a house that had been burgled. Fingerprints were photographed, particularly a left thumb print that did not belong to anyone in the house or law enforcement. It was found to be a match to Jackson after officials were sifting through fingerprints of previously known criminals. -
The FBI was first established
President Theodore Roosevelt first established the FBI with the mission to investigate corruption within the government. They would originally investigate mostly white collar crimes and civil rights cases but as the interest in crime grew they started to take on more and more cases and investigate more crimes. -
Hair analysis was first used in a legal court case
under Bichons Hair was first used in the murder of Germaine Bichon. Rosella Rousseau confessed to the murder only after hair evidence was found at the scene underneath Bichon's fingernails. -
First U.S. citizen to be convicted based on fingerprint evidence
Thomas Jennings was convicted of the murder of Clarence Hiller after a fingerprint was left behind on a freshly painted railing by Jennings. Police took photos of the fingerprint and cut the railing off claiming it would help identify the murderer and they were right. The murder of Hiller would lead to the first conviction by fingerprint evidence in a criminal trial in the United States. -
First forensic laboratory established in Los Angeles
The first forensic laboratories were established by Los Angeles police chief, August Vollmer, who is also known as the Father of Modern Policing. Vollmer believed that scientific analysis was an important part of police work. -
Frye v. United States
In the case of Frye v. United States, James Alphonzo Frye was being tried and was convicted of murder based on a failed polygraph test, he appealed and argued that this was an unreliable technique and the court agreed. This case rejected the validity of lie detectors in court and set the standard for scientific evidence and expert eyewitness testimonies in U.S. courtrooms. -
FBI crime lab is created
The FBI crime lab was originally named the Criminology Laboratory and in its first year of operation the lab performed 936 examinations. It was opened mainly due to Edgar J. Hoovers commitment to applying scientific principles to criminal investigation. -
DNA is discovered to carry genetic information
Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty discovered that DNA carries genetic information. This discovery overturned the old conception that DNA was a repetitive and simple molecule and confirmed that it is much more complex with its role in genetic transmission. -
AFIS is created by the FBI
Automated Fingerprint Identification System was established to identify and link suspects to crimes or unsolved cases. At first it only stored the most important points of fingerprint because it was too expensive to store whole images but later advanced to store whole images and reduce time spent by police in looking for suspects, criminals, victims, or unidentified people. -
DNA fingerprint technique is developed
DNA fingerprinting was developed by Sir Alec Jefferys after he discovered that you could variations in human DNA. The technique detects mini-satellites to produce a pattern unique in an individual. It has not only helped to solve crimes but also determine paternity. -
First United States conviction using DNA
Tommie Lee Andrews broke into a Florida woman's home and burglarized and raped her at knife point. Semen was retrieved from the scene and tested against blood drawn from serial rapist, Andrews. At the time no state had DNA data banks but after witnessing the power and impact of DNA evidence, state courts and legislatures would begin to utilize DNA evidence for crime fighting purposes. 10 years after the Andrews case, all 50 states had laws requiring DNA samples from at least sex offenders. -
CODIS is established
The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) was created as a pilot project to assist in providing investigative lead for law enforcement in cases where they had DNA evidence but no suspects but the 1994 DNA Identification Act allowed the FBI to establish a National DNA Index System (NDIS) for laaw enforcement and it became operational in 1998. CODIS began in nine states but soon moved to all 50 and is now in 203 federal, state, and local laboratories in the United States.