Major events in CSI sciences

Death of an emperor

44 BCE

Julius Caesar is assassinated. Physician performed an autopsy and determined the fatal wound out of the 23 different stab wounds.

Use of fingerprints

600

Fingerprints first used to determine identity. Arabic merchants would take a debtor's fingerprint and attach it to the bill.

First forensic science book

1248

First forensic science manual published by the Chinese. First known record of medical knowledge being used to solve criminal cases.

Physical evidence used in a criminal case

1784

This was the first recorded instance of physical evidence matching, which led to a murder conviction. The evidence was a torn edge of paper in a pistol that matched the paper in the murder's pocket.

Chemical testing utilized

1836

An english chemist, James Marsh, used chemicals to determine arsenic as the cause of death in a murder trial.

Fingerprint ID used in crime

1892

Juan Vauchitch, used fingerprints as evidence in a murder investigation. He also created a system of fingerprint identification.

School of Forensics

1909

The first school of forensic science founded by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, in Switzerland.

Crime Labs

1923

First police crime lab established in Los Angeles

National Crime System

1967

FBI established the National Crime Information Center. This was a computerized system that filed all information regarding wanted individuals.

Using DNA

1987

Tommy Lee Andrews is convicted of multiple sexual assaults, due to using DNA profiling.

Using Teeth

2011

Japanese researchers develop a dental x-ray matching system. This system can automatically match dental x-rays in a database.