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3500 BCE
First evidence of fingerprints
-fingerprints from early prehistoric humans was found on rock carvings and paintings
-earliest document found was the Egyptian Market Palette -
753 BCE
Ancient Roman Society
-forensis (a.k.a forensics) meaning "of or before the forum".
- people gathered to solve a case, this was normally done by forming arguments to determine who was guilty or innocent in the solving of a crime. -
44 BCE
44 BC: Antistius
-performed the first autopsy on record on Julius Caesar
-found that 1 of the 23 wounds had were fatal
Location: The 2nd stab wound on the breast -
Sep 1, 700
Chinese Society uses fingerprints
-used fingerprints to identify early documents
-used no formal classification system -
Sep 12, 1000
Quiatilian (attorney in Roman Court)
-showed bloody palm prints wrongfully accused a blind man of his own mothers murder. -
Sep 12, 1235
The Washing Away of Wrongs (Chinese book)
-1st recorded application of medical knowledge to the solving of a crime
-first written book on forensic science by Song Ci -
Sep 12, 1500
Middle Ages
-1st time science was used to fight against crime -
François Demelle of France
-The first Treatise on systematic documents
-was published by François Demelle of France -
John Tom's conviction of murder (Lancaster, England)
-1st document!enter case of physically matching a person to a clue on a crime scene
-The police matched the wad of newspaper found in a pistol to the remaining piece in John Tom's pocket -
Period: to
Forensic Science Progress
-1st recorded use of questioned document analysis.
-The development of tests for the presence of blood in a forensic context.
-physical comparison used to catch a murderer.
-The first use of toxicology (arsenic detection) in a jury trial.
-The first use of photography for the identification of criminals and documentation of evidence and crime scenes.
-The first recorded use of fingerprints to solve a crime. -
Valentine Ross (Investigating Poisoning)
-found a method to detect arsenic in a person's stomach
-Thus creating the development of poison testing -
Physical Evidence becomes popular
-clothing and shoes of a farm worker were looked at by examiner's to solve a case where a young woman was found drowned in a shallow pool
-thus suspect was linked to the murder -
James Marsh (English Chemist)
-during a murder trial James Marsh determined if the cause of death by using chemical processes. -
Period: to
First uses of photos in identification
-1st use of photography for criminal identification was used in the city of San Fransisco -
Bertillon System
-Chicago is the first U.S. city to use the Bertillon system of identification
-(a technique of human body measurement used in anthropological classification to the identification of criminals.) -
New York State Prison
-1st began first systematic use of fingerprints in the US for criminal investigations -
Learning about forensics
First school of forensics science founded by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, in Switzerland -
Edmund Locard (professor of forensics medicine)
-established 1st police crime lab
-done at the University of Lyons, France -
Hair is now used in forensics
-Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert publish first study on hair including microscopic studies from most animals
-First legal case ever involving hair also took place following his study -
Guns are unique
-victor Balthazard discovered that tools uses to make fun barrels never leave the same mark
-each gun leaves grooves on each bullet that is fired
-victor created several methods of matching bullets to guns via photography -
John Larson (University of California)
-invented the modern lie detector, also known as the polygraph.
-a machine designed to detect and record changes in physiological characteristics, such as a person's pulse and breathing rates, used especially as a lie detector. -
New services
-universities began offering courses and degrees in criminalistics and police science. -
Max Frei-Sulzer
-founder of Swiss criminalistics lab
-developed the method of collecting evidence using duct tape in a crime investigation -
the University of California at Berkeley
-created one of the 1st academic departments of criminology/criminalis
-the American Academy of Forensic Science (AAFS) was formed in Chicago. -
DNA techniques for unique ID
DNA fingerprinting techniques developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys -
Marcello Malpighi (anatomy professor)
-took notes on fingerprint characteristics
-did not say they were significant or valuable to solving a crime -
DNA catches the criminal
Tommy Lee Andrews convicted of a series of sexual assaults, using DNA profiling -
DNA evidence certified
National academy of science announces DNA evidence is reliable -
Faster fingerprints IDs
fBI establishes the integrated automated fingerprint identification syste, cutting down fingerprint inquiry response from two weeks to two hours -
Faster DNA IDs
Technology speeds up DNA profiling time, from 6-8 weeks to between 1-2 days -
Footwear detection system
Britain's forensic science service develops online footwear coding and detection syste.this helps police identify footwear marks quickly -
Detection after cleaning
A way for scientists to visualize fingerprints even faster after the print has been removed is developed, relating to how fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces -
Facial sketches matched to photos
Michigan state university develops software that automatically matches hand drawn facial sketches to mug shots stored in data bases -
4 second dental match
Japanese researchers develop a dental x-ray matching system. This system can automatically match dental x-rays in a data base, and makes a positive match in less than 4 seconds -
Rudolph Virchow
-German pathologist
-1st to study hair and see the limitations it had to helping investigate a crime scene
