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1300
First Case ever recorded using forensics
The case happened in 13th century China where someone was stabbed. Knives from all households were collected, and flies were drawn to the knife with the blood, which forced the suspect to confess. -
Mathieu Orfila
"Father of Forensic Toxicology"
Chemist who published the first scientific paper on the detection of poisons and their effects on animals -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints on documents to identify workers in India -
Alphonse Bertillon
"Father of Criminal Identification"
Developed Anthropometry which uses body measurements to distinguish individuals -
Henry Faulds
Uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published the first "Sherlock Holmes" story
considered the first "CSI"
featured in 4 novels and 56 short stories, popularized scientific crime-detection methods -
Francis Galton
Published "Fingerprints"
Conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification
gave proof of their uniqueness -
Hans Gross
Wrote the first paper describing the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation
Published "Criminal Investigation" -
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered the ABO blood groups
Received the Nobel Prize for his work -
Edmond Locard
Incorporated Gross' principles within a workable crime lab
Became the founder and director of the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons, France -
Albert S. Osborn
Published "Questioned Documents"
Developed the fundamental principles of document examination -
Leone Lattes
Developed a method for determining blood type from dried blood -
August Vollmer
Established the first Crime Lab in the United States, located in Los Angeles -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope
First used to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon
