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1200
13th Century China
A person was stabbed and all the knives in the village were collected. Flies were attracted to the blood and only went to one of the knives, causing the owner to confess. Happened in the 13th century in China. -
Mathieu Orfila
The "Father of Forensic Toxicology," a chemist who published the first scientific paper on the detection of poison and its effects on animals. -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints on documents to identify different workers in India. -
Alphonse Bertillon
The "Father of Criminal Identification," developed anthropometry (use of body measurements to identify individuals) -
Henry Faulds
Used fingerprints to eliminate a burglary suspect who was innocent. -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published the first "Sherlock Holmes" story, considered the first "CSI," character featured in 4 novels and 56 short stories, popularized the idea of scientific crime-detection methods. -
Francis Galton
Published "Finger Prints," conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their differing classifications, gave proof of the uniqueness of fingerprints. -
Hans Gross
Wrote the first paper that described the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation, published "Criminal Investigation" -
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered the ABO blood groups, later received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930 for his work in differing blood types. -
Edmond Locard
Incorporated Gross' principles into a working crime lab, became the founder and director of the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons, France. -
Albert S. Osborn
Published "Questions Documents," developed the fundamental principles of document examination. -
Leone Lattes
Developed a method for determining blood types from dried blood. -
August Vollmer
Established the first ever crime lab in the United States, located in Los Angeles, California. -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope, first person to compare bullets to see if they were fired from the same weapon.
