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1325
13th Century China
The victim had been slashed repeatedly, and investigators suspected the weapon used was a sickle. The local magistrate brought all the workers together and told them to lay down their sickles.All the tools looked clean, but one attracted hordes of flies. The flies could sense the residue of blood and tissue invisible to the human eye. When the tool was being swarmed by flies, the murderer confessed to the crime. This was the first case that used forensic science. -
Mathieu Orfila
He was the "Father of Forensic Toxicology" because he studied the decomposition of human bodies, and developed chemical analysis. -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints on documents to identify workers in India. -
Alphonse Bertillon
Father of "Criminal Identification." Developed Anthropometry. -
Henry Faulds
Uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Author of the Sherlock Holmes story, considered the first CSI. -
Francis Galton
Published Finger Print//conducted first study of fingerprints -
Hans Gross
Published Criminal Investigations -
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered ABO blood groups, received Nobel Prize -
Edmond Locard
Founder and director of the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons, France. -
Albert S. Osborn
Published Questioned Documents, and developed the fundamental principals of document examination -
Leone Lattes
Developed method for determining blood type from dried blood -
August Vollmer
Established first crime lab in the U.S. located in LA -
Calvin Goddard
Developed the comparison microscope
