Forensic Timeline

By Stephen Akers
  • Period: to

    History of Forensic Science

  • Marcello Malpighi

    Made some of the first recorded notes about unique finger characteristics.

  • Physical evidence used

    First recorded event of physical evidence being used to lead to a conviction. The evidence in question was a ripped newspaper, found on a pistol and matched to evidence in the convicted's pocket.

  • Valentin Ross

    Invented a better and more precise way of detecting small traces of Arsenic, in bodies or otherwise.

  • Mathieu Orfilla

    -The Father of Forensic Toxicology-
    Published the first indepth publication on the detection of poisons.

  • More physical evidence used

    Clothing of a farm worker were examined and found to match evidence present on the murder scene of a drowned woman.

  • Invention of the Polarized Light Microscope

  • The first microscopic detection of sperm

  • Use of photos for identification

    The US city of San Francisco uses photography for criminal identification, being the first to do so.

  • The first presumptive test for blood

    Ditto

  • Alphonse Bertillon

    -The Father of the Mugshot-
    Introduced the Bertillon System (Anthropometry), which was used to identify people by their physical appearance with measures of the body.

  • Fingerprints discovered to be unique

    Two individuals by the names of Henry Faulds and William J. Herschel publish a paper discussing how fingerprints are unique. Later on, scientist Francis H. Galton writes the first definitive study of fingerprints and creates a classification system, publishing a book on it in 1892.

  • Fingerprint ID used

    Argentinian officer Juan Vucetich becomes the first to use fingerprints as evidence in a real investigation. He also creates a system for fingerprint identification, called dactyloscopy.

  • Karl Landsteiner

    Discovered ABO blood typing

  • Victor Balthazard

    Realizes that all gun barrels are not made the same, and that they all leave identifying markings on fired bullets.

  • Hair use in forensics

    Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert publish the first study on hair, leading to the first legal case to involve hair shortly afterwards.

  • Crime lab built

    The first crime lab is established for the police in LA.

  • Lie detection

    Polygraphy is invented by John Larson, created for police use.

  • James Marsh

    First to testify during a trial on the detection of Arsenic within a victim's body.Considered to be the first "expert witness" to use science in this context.

  • Voice recordings

    Sound spectrographs are discovered to be able to record voices. Voiceprints then on are used in in investigations/as evidence from devices like phones.

  • The first national crime system

    FBI establish the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), a national filing system for wanted people and stolen/illicit property.

  • Advanced residue detection

    New technology is developed in the US to detect gunshot residue, which can link suspects to crime scenes and show how close subjects were to the weapons.

  • Advances in DNA lead to conviction

    DNA fingerprinting leads to the conviction of Colin Pitchfork in a murder case, clearing the main suspect to likely would have otherwise been convicted.

  • DNA techniques

    DNA fingerprinting methods are developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys.

  • DNA catch

    DNA profiling convicts a Tommy Lee Andrews for a series of sexual assualts.

  • DNA evidence certified

    DNa evidence is officially certified as reliable evidence by the National Academy of Sciences.

  • Faster fingerprint IDs

    The FBI establishes a automated fingerprint identification system, which cut down the response time on finger print inquiries from two weeks to two hours.

  • Faster DNA IDs

    New technology accelerates DNA profiling time, cutting it from 6-8 weeks down to 1-2 days.

  • Footwear detection

    An online footwear coding/detection system is developed in Britain, which helps police identify footwear markings quickly.

  • Post-cleaning detection

    A way for scientists to visualize fingerprints after the print has been cleaned away is created, relating to how fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces.

  • Sketches to mug shots

    A software that matches facial sketches to mugshot databases is developed in Michigan.

  • Fast dental matching

    A dental x-ray matching system is developed in Japan, which automatically matches x-rays to databases in less than 4 seconds.