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1200
13th Century China
The first usage of forensic science in recorded history. After a stabbing, knives were collected to see which knife flies were attracted to. -
Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila
"Father of Toxicology." Worked to make chemical analysis a routine in forensic medicine, and studied asphyxiation and decomposition. -
Valentin Ross
Developed methods to detect poison in the human body. -
Juan Vucetich
Anthropologist and police official. Pioneered the use of fingerprinting. -
Alphonse Bertillon
Developed Anthropometry, identification through body measurements. -
Francis Galton
Conducted the first definitive fingerprint study + classification. Published "Finger Prints" -
Hans Gross
Wrote the first paper connecting science to criminal investigation. Published "Criminal Investigation" -
J. Edgar Hoover
The first director of the FBI. -
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered the A/B/O blood groups. -
Edmond Locard
Incorporated Gross' principals into a crime lab, Founder and director of the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons, FR. -
Frye Standard
States that an expert opinion is "admissible if the scientific technique on which the opinion is based is 'generally accepted' as reliable in the relevant scientific community." -
SIr Alec Jeffreys
Developed techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling. -
CODIS
The Combined DNA Index System. Allows DNA evidence to be compared electronically, linking many violent crimes. -
IBIS
The Integrated Ballistics Identification System. A system that compares different evidence related to crime guns, like shell casings and bullets. -
Daubert Ruling
An event where the court ruled that nothing in the Federal Rules of Evidence governing expert evidence "gives any indication that 'general acceptance' is a necessary precondition to the admissibility of scientific evidence."