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700 BCE
The Chinese began recording thumb prints.
The Chinese recorded thumb prints on clay sculptures and documents without a classification system in place. -
250 BCE
Erasistratus created the first lie detector.
Erasistratus is a Greek physician who noted that his patients' pulse rate appeared to increase when they lied. -
1248
"Hsi Duan Yu" (the Washing Away of Wrong) is published.
This marked the first documentation of medical knowledge aimed at solving crimes. The book detailed the difference between drowning and strangulation -
Zacharias Jansenn builds the first microscope.
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The 1st person to practice modern forensic medicine.
Fortunatus Fidelis, an Italian doctor, performs what is defined as "application of medical knowledge to legal questions." -
Bonaventure Orfila publishes "Traite des Poisons"
Orfila is considered the father of modern toxicology and his book helped progress crime investigations worldwide. -
Henry Goddard is the 1st to use bullet comparison.
Scotland Yard's Henry Goddard became the first person to use physical analysis to place a bullet to the murder weapon. -
The Scottish chemist James Marsh developes chemical test to detect arsenic.
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Police in San Francisco begin using photography to identify criminals.
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Alexander II implemented the great judicial reform in Russia
This reform consisted of all of his reforms and is known to be his most effective reforms. It gave Russia a new court system and order of legal proceedings. -
German scientist Wilhelm Wundt created the first psychology lab.
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Fingerprint identification techniques begin to develop.
Englishmen Henry Faulds and William James Herschel describe the uniqueness of people's fingerprints in the British scientific journal Nature. -
Chicago adopts the Bertillon system of identification.
Chicago is the first US city to adopt this technique of human body measurement used in anthropological classification to the identification of criminals. -
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) establish National Bureau of Criminal Identification
The National Bureau of Criminal Identification was created for the purpose of exchanging arrest information. -
Sir Edward Henry develops his own system for identifying fingerprints.
The Henry Classification System becomes the standard for criminal fingerprinting techniques worldwide. -
The William West - Will West Case at Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas.
This case involved two people who managed to be put into prison under the same name and looked very similar. The case changed the way people were classified and identified. -
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is founded.
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1st crime labratory is established.
In Lyon, France, a physician named Edmond Locard established the crime laboratory. -
Negotiators of the Treaty of Versailles propose establishing international court.
This proposal was made in response to the Kaiser and German war criminals that were gonna be tried. Although the Kaiser was never tried, the proposal still made it into Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Calvin Goddard creates the comparison microscope.
This American physician created the comparison microscope to help determine which bullets came from which shell casings. -
John Larson invents the modern lie detector (aka polygraph).
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Formation of ID Division of FBI
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The FBI sets up its first forensic crime labratory.
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Period: to
Crime rates grow to an all time high.
This time period is generally when the world decided that crime needs more advanced forms of investigation. Forensic science finally becomes necessary in investigations due to these raised crime rates. -
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is established.
The United Nations Security Council established the ICTY in response to the ethnic fighting and violence occurring due to the break up of the former Yugoslavia.
