-
1235
13th Century China
A Chinese farmer was murdered with a sickle. The investigator had all the farmers in the village to bring their sickles to the village center. He then had them place it on the ground and wait. Eventually a species of fly, known for its attraction to blood and flash, became particularly interested on one a the sickles. Thus revealing which farmer had committed the murder. -
Mathieu Orfila
Father of toxicology because he worked to make chemical analysis a routine part of forensic medicine. He also studied asphyxiation, the decomposition of bodies, and exhumation. -
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 and innocent burglary suspects. -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published his first Sherlock Holmes story; Considered the first “CSI”, featured in four 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 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.
