Forensic Science Timeline - Vitor Ligiero Braga

By VitorLB
  • 400

    Who determines causes of Death

    Germanic and Slavic cultures made legislation that forensic professionals would be the ones to decide the cause of death in cases.
  • 600

    Use of fingerprints for the first time

    The fingerprints were first used to identify the person. Arab merchants would take the fingerprint of a debtor, and add it to the bill.
  • 1248

    First forensic science book

    The first forensic science textbook released by the Chinese authorities. It was the earliest recorded documentation of forensic expertise used to investigate court crimes.
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    Reporting cases (1600s)

    Released first pathology records.
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    Carl Wilhelm Scheele

    A chemist from Sweden. In 1775, devised the test for detecting Arsenic in corpses.

  • Physical evidence used in criminal case

    First recorded case of physical matching of evidence leading to a murder conviction (John Toms, England). The proof was a ripped side of the newspaper in a pistol that fit the newspaper's pocket.
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    Mathieu Orfilla

    Spanish toxicologist considered Father of Forensic Toxicology. In 1814, published the first scientific treatise on the detection of poisons.

  • Investigating poisoning

    German chemist Valentin Ross has found a more effective method for measuring small quantities of Arsenic.
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    Francis Henry Galton

    Wrote the first definitive study of fingerprints and developed a classification system. In 1892 published the Finger Prints book.

  • James Marsh

    A chemist from Scotland. In 1939, he was the first to testify in a criminal trial on the detection of Arsenic in a victim’s body. Considered the first “Expert Witness” using science in a legal context.
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    Hans Gross

    Prosecutor and Judge from Austria. In 1893 published Criminal Investigation. Discussed the benefits of science in criminal investigations.
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    Alphonse Bertillon

    French Anthropologist that introduced the Bertillon System in 1879. Using different body tests to classify individuals by their facial presence. Also considered the “Father of the Mugshot”.
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    First uses of photos in identification

    San Francisco uses photography for criminal identification, the first city in the United States to do so.
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    Edmond Locard

    French doctor and criminologist. Developed Locard’s Exchange Principle. Opened the very first crime laboratory in France.

  • Fingerprint ID used in crime

    The first to use the fingerprints in the murder investigation is Juan Vucetich, argentine police officer. He developed an authentication method using fingerprints, which he called a dactyloscopy.

  • Investigations into blood markers

    ABO, discovered by Karl Landsteiner and adapted by Dieter Max Richter to use on blood stains.

  • Hair now used in forensics

    First hair studies, including microscopic research from most animals, were conducted by Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert. After this study, there was also the first legal case ever involving hair.

  • Guns are unique

    Victor Balthazard knows that gun barrel devices rarely leave the same marks and that individual gun barrels leave grooves defining each bullet they fire. He developed different methods of photography to align bullets with weapons.
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    Walter McCrone

    American chemist and microscopy expert. Examined The Shroud of Turin and the Vinland map.

  • Crime experts build lab

    The FBI has its own criminal laboratory, which is now one of the world's most important criminal laboratories. A legal chairman was founded the same year at Harvard.

  • Voice recording, used as evidence (1960s)

    A sound spectrographer found that voices can be recorded. The Voiceprints started to be collected as evidence from call records, reaction devices, or tape recorders in prosecutions.

  • First national crime system

    FBI created a National Crime Information Centre, a computerized national recording system for people, vehicles stolen, weapons, etc.

  • Advances in residue detection

    Software for the identification of bullet wounds that may link a suspect to the crime scene and indicate how near a suspect is to the gun. Aerospace Corporation in the U.S.

  • Advances in DNA lead to conviction (1983-86)

    Colin Pitchfork was accused of the abduction of two teens in DNA fingerprinting. The primary suspect in the case, who was presumably sentenced without the trial, was obvious from this testimony.

  • Sir Alec Jeffreys

    In 1984, developed first DNA profiling test.

  • DNA evidence certified

    National Academy of Sciences announces DNA evidence is reliable.

  • Faster fingerprint IDs

    In order to cut the fingerprint query response from two weeks to two hours, the FBI creates an advanced automatic fingerprint recognition program.

  • Footwear detection system

    The UK Forensic Science Service is developing a system for the detection and coding of online footwear. This helps the police to easily recognize traces on boots.

  • Facial sketches matched to photos

    The state university of Michigan creates software that combines hand-drawn face drawings automatically with mug shots stored in databases.

  • 4 second dental match

    Japanese scientists are designing a similar dental X-ray device. This device will compare dental x-rays in a database instantly and allows a correct match in under four seconds.