The Development of CSI

By selde2085
  • 300 BCE

    First Form of Forensics

    First Form of Forensics
    Fingerprints are used on clay tablets for business transactions in Ancient Babylon. The fingerprints were an identifiable marker.
  • 600

    Archimede's Volume

    Archimede's Volume
    Archimedes uses the scientific method and observations of density and buoyancy to prove the crown was not made of gold.
  • 750

    First Lie Detector

    First Lie Detector
    Erasistratus, an ancient Greek physician, discovers that his patients’ pulse rates increase when they are telling lies. Allegedly the first lie detection test.
  • Jan 28, 1235

    First Method in Finding Murder Weapons

    First Method in Finding Murder Weapons
    A murder was committed using a sickle. All those in the village who owned a sickle were made to bring them out and lay them in the sun. Eventually flies gathered on one particular sickle, identifying it as the murder weapon.
  • 1248

    Medicine Used to Find Cause of Death

    Medicine Used to Find Cause of Death
    The Chinese book, His Duan Yu, is published and it describes how to distinguish drowning from strangulation. The first recorded application of medicine to help solve crimes is used.
  • 1302

    First Autopsy

    First Autopsy
    The first legal autopsy was performed by Bartolomeo de Varignana. This was used when a nobleman was suspected to be murdered.
  • 1447

    Teeth Used in Investigation

    Teeth Used in Investigation
    The missing teeth of the French Duke of Burgundy were used to identify remains.

  • First Microscope Developed

    First Microscope Developed
    The first microscope is developed. Although this wasn't used for murder investigations, in the beginning, its usage became more popular in the CSI field overtime.

  • First Use of Physical Matching Used In Court

    First Use of Physical Matching Used In Court
    John Toms of Lancaster is convicted of murder on the basis of a torn wad of paper found in a pistol matching a remaining piece in his pocket. This is one of the first documented uses of physical matching.

  • Bullet Comparison

    Bullet Comparison
    Henry Goddard first uses bullet comparison to catch a murderer. The comparison was based in a visible flaw in the bullet, traced back to mold.

  • Body Temperature Used For Time of Death

    Body Temperature Used For Time of Death
    Taylor and Wilkes write a paper on the determination of time since death from a fall in body temperature, introducing many current concepts.

  • Advocation For Crime Scene Photographs

    Advocation For Crime Scene Photographs
    The first advocation of the use of photography for the identification of criminals and the documentation of evidence and crime scenes occurred.

  • Fingerprinting Used

    Fingerprinting Used
    Henry Faulds of Scotland publishes a paper suggesting fingerprints at the scene of a crime could identify the offender. Faulds uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent suspect and indicate a perpetrator in a Tokyo burglary.

  • Fingerprint Database

    Fingerprint Database
    The NY States Prison system begins the first systematic use of fingerprints in the US for criminal identification.

  • Tape Lift Method Introduced

    Tape Lift Method Introduced
    Max Frei-Sulzer develops the tape lift method of collecting fingerprints from crime scenes.

  • First Breathalyzer Machine

    First Breathalyzer Machine
    R. F. Borkenstein invents the Breathalyzer for sobriety testing.

  • Genetics DNA Information Improved

    Genetics DNA Information Improved
    American geneticist discovers a region of DNA that does not hold any genetic information and is extremely variable between individuals. This started our path to DNA recognition.

  • DNA Used to Catch Criminals

    DNA Used to Catch Criminals
    DNA is used for the first time to solve a crime. DNA profiling is used to identify Colin Pitchfork as the murderer of two young girls in the English Midlands.

  • DNA Used In Courts

    DNA Used In Courts
    DNA profiling is introduced for the first time in a US criminal court.

  • Footwear Technology Introduced

    Footwear Technology Introduced
    The Forensic Science Service launches the UK’s first online footwear coding and detection management system, Footwear Intelligence Technology.