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1247
First forensic science book published by the Chinese
T'zu's The Washing Away of Wrongs (Hsi yüan chi lu), printed in 1247, is the oldest extant book on forensic medicine in the world. Written as a guide for magistrates in conducting inquests, the book is a major source on early Chinese knowledge of pathology and morbid anatomy. -
Period: 1247 to
My Forensic timeline
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1302
First Autopsy
The first forensic or legal autopsy, wherein the death was investigated to determine presence of “fault,” is said to have been one requested by a magistrate in Bologna in 1302. -
Chemical testing utilized - James Marsh used chemical processes to determine arsenic.
The Blandy trial of 1752 was the first ever chemical test for poison, and the Marsh Test in 1836 was the first reliable analysis that determined whether or not arsenic was present in the body of a victim. -
First time physical evidence used in chemical case by John Toms.
In 1784, in Lancaster, England, John Toms was tried and convicted for murdering Edward Culshaw with a pistol. When the dead body of Culshaw was examined, a pistol wad (crushed paper used to secure powder and balls in the muzzle) found in his head wound matched perfectly with a torn newspaper found in Toms' pocket. -
First pathology reports published ever
Elements of Pathological Anatomy, first published in 1839, has been considered by some as the first textbook of pathology in America. -
First uses of photos in identification in San Francisco.
1854 First uses of photos in identification (1854-59 ) San Francisco uses photography for criminal identification, the first city in the US to do so -
Voice recording used as evidence- a sound spectrograph discovered to be able to record voices.
Between the invention of the phonograph in 1877 and the first commercial digital recordings in the early 1970s, arguably the most important milestone in the history of sound recording was the introduction of what was then called electrical recording, in which a microphone was used to convert the sound into an electrical signal that was amplified and used to actuate the recording stylus. -
Henry Faulds, William James Herschel and Galton.
Herschel documented his own fingerprints over his lifetime to prove permanence.Faulds published a paper in 'Nature' magazine on fingerprints, observing that they could be used to catch criminals and suggesting how this could be done. Galton published a book on his findings in 1892 in which he listed the three most common fingerprint types: loop, whorl, and arch. -
Criminal features reduced to numerical measurements of physical features of bones by Alphose Bertillon.
In 1882 Bertillon was given the opportunity to prove the validity of his system in the eyes of Ernest Camescasse, then Prefect of Police. After a three-month trial period, he was able to identify a repeat offender by proving that the man, who had just been caught on the scene of a burglary, had indeed been arrested for robbery some time before. -
Sherlock Holmes and the corner
Coroner's act established coroners' were to determine cause of sudden, violent, and unnatural deaths. First published Sherlock Holmes book by Arthur Conan Doyle. -
Fingerprint ID used in crime - Juan Vucetic use fingerprints as evidence in a murder investigation which he termed dactyloscopy.
Juan Vucetich devised a useable system to group and classify fingerprints, which he called dactyloscopy. Vucetich demonstrated the utility of fingerprint evidence in an 1892 case, which resulted in the identification and conviction of a suspect for first-degree murder. -
First use of Fingerprints
In 1892 Juan Vucetich, an Argentine chief police officer, created the first method of recording the fingerprints of individuals on file. In that same year, Francisca Rojas was found in a house with neck injuries, whilst her two sons were found dead with their throats cut. -
Investigations into blood markers - human blood grouping, ABO, discovered by Karl Landsteiner.
Karl Landsteiner discovered why: when different people\'s blood was mixed, the blood cells sometimes clotted. He explained in 1901 that people have different types of blood cells, that is, there are different blood groups. The discovery led to blood transfusions between people with compatible blood groups. -
Learning about forensics - first school of forensic science founded by Radolphe Archibald Reiss in Switzerland.
In 1909, Radolphe Archibald Reiss was the founder of the first academic forensic science programme and of the "Institut de police scientifique" (Institute of forensic science) at the University of Lausanne. -
Hair now used in forensics - Victor Balthazard and Marcel Lambert publish first study of hair.
In 1910,Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert published the first comprehensive hair study "Le poil de l'homme et des animaux" ("The hair of man and animals"), which includes numerous microscopic studies of hairs from most animals. -
Guns are unique- Victor Balthazard used tools to make gun barrels never the same.
Victor Balthazard realizes that tools used to make gun barrels never leave the same markings and individual gun barrels leave identifying grooves on bullets fired through it. He came up with several methods of matching bullets via photography. -
Lie detection- prototype polygraph invented by John Larson.
In 1921, John Augustus Larson, a medical student and police officer in Berkeley, California invented a machine to help detectives determine if someone was telling the truth – or lying. He called it – the Polygraph. -
Crime labs built- first police crime lab established in Los Angeles
On July 1, 1923, Officer Rex Welsh of the Los Angeles Police Department was assigned to be the department's first criminalist and tasked with setting up a scientific laboratory to support criminal investigations. -
Auto fingerprints system first implemented by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In 1924, the FBI's Identification Division was established ... world (early adopters included the Royal. Canadian Mounted Police and the United Kingdom Home. -
Crime experts built a lab- FBI established its own crime laboratory and a chair of legal medicine at Harvard was established.
1932 two events happened that would go on to provide new innovations in forensic science -
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is an American criminal defense organization. Members include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, active U.S. military defense counsel -
First national crime system- FBI established the National Crime Information Center (computerized national filing system).
The National Crime Information Center, more commonly known as NCIC, is a computerized database of documented criminal justice information available to virtually every law enforcement agency nationwide, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. NCIC became operational January 27, 1967, with the goal to assist law enforcement in apprehending fugitives and locating stolen property. -
Advances in residue detection - technology developed at Aerospace Corporation in the US to detect gunshot residue.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the analysis of inorganic gunshot residues (IGSR) was introduced in 1974 by the Aerospace Corporation -
DNA fingerprinting techniques by Sir Alec Jeffreys.
DNA fingerprinting was invented in 1984 by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys after he realised you could detect variations in human DNA, in the form of these minisatellites. DNA fingerprinting is a technique that simultaneously detects lots of minisatellites in the genome to produce a pattern unique to an individual. -
DNA catches the criminal - Tommy Lee Andrews convicted of a series of sexual assaults using DNA profiling.
In 1987, Tommie Lee Andrews became the first American ever convicted in a case that utilized DNA evidence. ... DNA samples of semen retrieved from the crime scene matched blood drawn from Andrews, a serial rapist, who is now serving a twenty-two year prison sentence for rape, aggravated burglary and burglary. -
Innocence Project
The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. -
Faster DNA IDs which took 6 to 8 weeks to 1 to 2 days.
The proposed legislation is an addendum to the DNA Identification Act of 1994 that provides guidelines on how Rapid DNA analysis can be used by local law enforcement. -
National Academy of Sciences announces DNA evidence is reliable.
While confirming that the science behind DNA forensics is valid, a new report from a committee of the National Research Council recommends new ways of interpreting DNA evidence to help answer a key question for jurors -- how likely it is that two matching samples came from different people. -
FBI establishes the integrated automated fingerprint identification system which took two weeks to two hours.
To meet the growing demand for fingerprint identification, the FBI developed and implemented IAFIS, which became operational on July 28, 1999. IAFIS integrates fingerprint records that have been sent to the FBI by the States and territories and Federal law enforcement agencies, all of which have established their own Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems -
The Innocence Network
Established in 2005, the Innocence Network counts nearly 70 independent organizations as members, most of which represent people who have been wrongfully convicted and are fighting to prove their innocence. -
Footwear detection system- Britain's Forensic science service develops online footwear coding and detection systems.
This helps police to identify footwear marks quickly. -
Detection after cleaning: A way for scientists to visualize fingerprints even after the print has been removed is developed, relating to how fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces.
Researchers in the University Department of Chemistry and the Police's scientific support unit have developed the method that enables scientists to 'visualise fingerprints' even after the print itself has been removed. They conducted a study into the way fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces. The technique can enhance -- after firing-- a fingerprint that has been deposited on a small calibre metal cartridge case before it is fired. -
A way for scientists to visualize fingerprints even after the print has been removed is developed, relating to how fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces.
In order to create a way to find a fingerprint even after it was cleaned, scientists used chemicals and other techniques to detect fingerprints using how metals and other materials corrode from the fingerprint -
Four second dental match - Japanese researchers develop a dental x-ray matching system.
This system can automatically match dental x-rays in a database, and makes a positive match in less than 4 seconds. -
Facial sketches matched to photos - Michigan State University develops software that automatically matches hand drawn facial sketches to mugshots.
A team led by MSU University Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Anil Jain and doctoral student Brendan Klare has developed a set of algorithms and created software that will automatically match hand-drawn facial sketches to mug shots that are stored in law enforcement databases. -
The U.S. Department of Justice announces launch of National Commission on Forensic Science
In 2013, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an interagency initiative to strengthen forensic science: the establishment of a National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS) and development of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science -
Pro Bono partner Winston and Strawn LLP
The FBI will review thousands of old cases, including some involving the death penalty, in which hair samples helped secure convictions, under an ambitious plan made public Thursday. -
FBI analysts linked defendants to crimes through microscopic hair analysis 96% involved invalid testimonies
The FBI reports that, in 268 cases where FBI analysts linked defendants to crimes through microscopic hair analysis, 96 percent (257 cases) involved statistically invalid testimony. 27 of 29 analysts either gave faulty testimony – claiming, for example, that evidence was a match to a particular source without statistical support for the claim – or submitted erroneous reports. -
National DNA Testing Effort on Old Rape Kits Sees Success in Indicting Sexual Predators (
Hundreds — possibly thousands — of sexual predators and rapists may be prosecuted in the U.S. as new funding is spent on clearing a backlog of rape-kit tests. Across the country, state governments are making a concerted effort to finally test the DNA in thousands of rape kits that in some cases sat in police evidence rooms for years. -
PCAST Releases Report on Forensic Science in Criminal Courts
"The study that led to the report was a response to the President’s question to his PCAST in 2015, as to whether there are additional steps on the scientific side, beyond those already taken by the Administration in the aftermath of a highly critical 2009 National Research Council report on the state of the forensic sciences, that could help ensure the validity of forensic evidence used in the Nation’s legal system" -
Dust to Dust: Scientists Find DNA of Human Ancestors in Cave Floor Dirt
Imagine being able to collect the DNA of a human ancestor who’s been dead for tens of thousands of years from the dirt on the floor of a cave. Sounds fantastic, but scientists in Germany think they may be able to do just that. If they’re successful, it could open a new door into understanding the extinct relatives of humans. -
“Buckskin Girl” Case: DNA Breakthrough Leads to ID of 1981 Murder Victim
A body that was discovered in a ditch along an Ohio roadway 37 years ago has been identified as an Arkansas woman through the use of “revolutionary” DNA techniques. The victim had been known as the “Buckskin Girl” because of the distinctive buckskin jacket she was wearing. Her body was found in Troy in 1981.Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a forensic anthropologist said the case involved “groundbreaking” work to apply genetic genealogy to the identification of unknown persons. -
Rapid DNA Analysis Steps in to Identify Remains of Wildfire Victims
If fingerprints and dental records fail or if the remains are too damaged, DNA testing is the next step. Typically, it would take weeks to ship samples to a laboratory and conduct the analysis, but a Colorado-based company called ANDE has stepped in to help with the effort in California. The company, which usually works with the US military and the FBI, specializes in rapid DNA analysis. DNA tests were ran on samples wildfire investigators bring in. -
A Lesser-Known DNA Test That Can Help Reunite Immigrant Parents with Detained Children
Consumer DNA testing companies, including 23andMe and MyHeritage, are offering genetic kits as a way to reunite immigrant parents with detained and separated children at the border.
