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1300
13th Century China
The first case ever recorded using forensic science. There was a murder and the police didn't know who did it so they took every knife in town and waited for flies to get attracted to the blood in the knife. It worked and resulted in the criminal turning himself in. -
Mathieu Orfila
Was considered the "Father of Forensic Toxicology". Orfila worked to make chemical analysis a routine part of forensic medicine, and made studies of asphyxiation, the decomposition of bodies, and exhumation. -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints on documents to identify workers in India. -
Alphonse Bertillon
"Father of Criminal Identificaation". Developed Anthropometry which uses body measurements to distinguish individuals -
Henry Faulds
Uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published his first Sherlock Holmes story; Considered the first "CSI" featured in 4 novels and 56 short stories, popularized scientific crime-detection methods -
Francis Galton
Published "Finger Prints".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 later received Nobel Prize -
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 U.S located in LA -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope; first used to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon