-
44 BCE
First autopsy
This was the beginning of forensics -
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. -
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. -
Chemical testing utilized
James Marsh used chemical processes to determine arsenic.The Marsh test is a highly sensitive method in the detection of arsenic, especially useful in the field of forensic toxicology when arsenic was used as a poison. It was developed by the chemist James Marsh and first published in 1836 -
First pathology reports published
This may explain why the Gross's7 Elements of Pathological Anatomy, first published in 1839, has been considered by some as the first textbook of pathology in America. -
Fingerprints found to be unique
Henry Faulds, William James Herschel and Galton. This was a big break through -
Criminal features reduced to numerical measurements of physical features of bones by Alphose Bertillon.
Influenced by criminal anthropology, his first contribution was the design and implementation of novel police identification methods at the Paris Prefecture de Police. -
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. -
Sherlock Holmes and the corner
corner's act established that corners were to determine the causes of sudden, violent and unnatural deaths. Arthur Conan Doyle also published the first Sherlock Holmes story -
Fingerprint ID used in crime
Juan Vucetic use fingerprints as evidence in a murder investigation which he termed dactyloscopy. -
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. -
A way for scientists to visualize fingerprints even after the print has been removed is developed, relating to how fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces
This helped find out who commited the crime. -
Learning about forensics
first school of forensic science founded by Radolphe Archibald Reiss in Switzerland. -
Hair now used in forensics
Victor Balthazard and Marcel Lambert publish first study of hair -
Guns are unique
Victor Balthazard used tools to make gun barrels never the same -
Lie detection
prototype polygraph invented by John Larson -
Crime labs built
First police crime lab established in Los Angeles. -
Crime experts built a lab
FBI established its own crime laboratory and a chair of legal medicine at Harvard was established. -
Rapid DNA
Faster DNA IDs which took 6 to 8 weeks to 1 to 2 days. -
Voice recording used as evidence
a sound spectrograph discovered to be able to record voices. -
First national crime system
FBI established the National Crime Information Center (computerized national filing system) -
Advances in residue detection
technology developed at Aerospace Corporation in the US to detect gunshot residue. -
Auto fingerprints system first implemented by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Automated fingerprint systems in Canada addresses the evidential impact of fingerprints, the configuration and operations of the current system, its deficiencies, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) future plans for computerization. -
DNA technique for unique ID
DNA fingerprinting techniques by Sir Alec Jeffreys -
DNA evidence certified
National Academy of Sciences announces DNA evidence is reliable -
DNA catches the criminal
Tommy Lee Andrews convicted of a series of sexual assaults using DNA profiling -
The Innocence Project, The Innocence Network, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and pro bono partner Winston and Strawn
LLP announce a partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice to review approximately 3,000 cases in which microscopic hair analysis conducted by the FBI was used to inculpate the defendants. -
Faster fingerprint ID's
FBI establishes the integrated automated fingerprint identification system which took two weeks to two hours. -
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. -
Footwear detection system
Britain's Forensic science service develops online footwear coding and detection systems -
Facial sketches matched to photos
Michigan State University develops software that automatically matches hand drawn facial sketches to mugshots. -
Four second dental match
Japanese researchers develop a dental x-ray matching system. -
The U.S. Department of Justice announces launch of National Commission on Forensic Science
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today the establishment of a National Commission on Forensic Science as part of a new initiative to strengthen and enhance the practice of forensic science. -
New Protocol for Measuring Background Levels of Drugs in Crime Labs
When forensic chemists handle evidence that contains illegal drugs, trace amounts are inevitably released into the laboratory environment, which can cause detectable background levels of drugs -
New Method Developed to Detect and Trace Homemade Bombs
Researchers have developed a new way of detecting homemade explosives which will help forensic scientists trace where it came from -
Bullet Shape, Velocity Determine Blood Spatter Patterns
Blood spatters are hydrodynamic signatures of violent crimes, often revealing when an event occurred and where the perpetrator and victim were located, -
High-Tech Sniffer Help Keep Us Safe
Science stinks. So thought Megan Harries as she measured drops of putrescine and cadaverine -- the chemicals that give decomposing corpses their distinctive, terrible odor -- into glass vials. -
Bringing Burnt Bones Back to 'Life' Using 3D Technology
Forensic scientists have discovered a new way of presenting fragile evidence, by reconstructing a 'jigsaw' of human bone fragments using 3D printing. In the first known study of its kind, -
Researchers Identify New Biomarkers to Detect Consumption of Emerging Illicit Drug
A team of researchers has come up with a new solution to boost the surveillance of designer drug abuse. The team has identified three new urinary biomarkers that could be used to detect consumption