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1300
13th Century China
The first case ever recorded using forensic science was in a Chinese village where somebody was stabbed by a knife. Later on, flies were attracted to the knife due to its traces of blood, which made the suspect confess to the murder -
Mathieu Orfila
Mathieu Orfila, a chemist, was deemed the "Father of Forensic Toxicology" due to a paper he published on poisons and their effects on various animals -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints to identify and keep track of workers in India -
Alphonse Bertillion
Alphonse Bertillion was deemed the "Father of Criminal Identification" by developing Anthropometry to use body measurements to distinguish between arrested or released individuals -
Henry Faulds
Used fingerprints to elimnate an innocent burglary suspect from being arrested -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published the first ever "Sherlock Holmes" story. Was featured in 4 novels and 56 short stories which popularized scientific crime-detection methods -
Francis Galton
Published "Fingerprints". Conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification and proved their uniqueness -
Han Gross
Wrote the first paper describing the application of scientific principals to the field of criminal investigation. Published "Criminal Investigation" -
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered the A, B, and O blood groups. Did not discover the AB blood group. -
Edmond Locard
Incorporated Gross' principles within a crime lab. Founder of the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons -
Albert S. Osborn
Published "Questioned Documents". Developed the fundamental principles -
Leone Lattes
Developed a method for determining blood type from dried blood -
August Vollmer
Established the first crime lab in the United States in LA -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope. Was used at first to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon
