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1200
13th Century China
The first recorded case to use forensic science. In 13th century China, a stabbing case was solved by collecting all of the knives in the village and seeing which knife attracted flies. The flies only landed on one knife, resulting in the culprit's confession. -
Mathieu Orfila
Mathieu Orfila was a chemist who published the first scientific paper on the detection of poisons and their effects on animals, and is considered the "Father of Toxicology." -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints on documents to identify his workers in India. -
Alphonse Bertillon
The "Father of Criminal Identification," Alphonse Bertillon developed Anthropometry, which uses body measurements, to distinguish and identify individuals. -
Henry Faulds
Used fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect. -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published his first Sherlock Holmes story; considered the first "CSI," featured in four novels and 56 short stories, and popularized scientific crime-detection methods. -
Francis Galton
Published Finger Prints, and conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification, giving 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 recieved 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 United States, located in Los Angeles. -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope; first used to compare bullets to see if they were fired from the same weapon.
