-
1235
13th Century China
First ever case recorded using forensic science. There was a stabbing in a Chinese village, and they tested different knifes on animals to determine which one was used and discovered it was a sickle, then had all the people lay their sickles out to investigate. Blow flies were attracted to the one used due to invisible leftover blood and tissue. This is entomology -
Mathieu Orfila
Father of forensic toxicology. He used different tests to prove there was arsenic found within a body that was previously proven to not haven any present, even though his last meal was laced with it -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints to document workers in India -
Alphonse Bertillon
Father of criminal identification. Developed anthropometry which uses body measurements to distinguish individuals -
Henry Faulds
Used fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published 4 Sherlock Holmes novels and 56 short stories. First CSI -
Francis Galton
Published Finger Prints. Conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification -
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 or 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 United States, located in LA -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope; first used to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon