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600 BCE
Use of Fingerprints for the First Time
The science of fingerprint identification began nearly 4,000 years ago. Chinese historian Kia Kung-Yen wrote of fingerprints used in an older method of preparing contracts. Fingerprints are used to determine someone's identity. -
1248
First Forensic Science Book
The first forensic science manual was published by the Chinese, it was also the first known record of medical knowledge being used to solve criminal cases. -
Reporting Cases
The first pathology reports were published in the 1600's. -
Physical Evidence Used in Criminal Cases
The first recorded instance of physical evidence was a torn edge of newspaper. This torn edge of newspaper was found inside of an alleged murderer's pistol, which matched the newspaper in his pocket. The convicted murderer was John Toms. -
Investigating Poisoning
German chemist Valentin Ross developed a method of detecting arsenic in a victim's stomach, which led to the advancement of being able to identify deaths by poison. -
Chemical Testing is Utilized
James Marsh, an English chemist, uses chemical processes to determine arsenic as the cause of death in a murder trial. -
First Uses of Photos for Identification
San Francisco uses photography for criminal identification, the first city in the US to do so. -
Fingerprints Identified as "Unique"
Henry Faulds and William James Herschel publish their findings on the uniqueness of fingerprints. -
Fingerprint ID used in crime
Juan Vucetich, an Argentinean police officer, is the first to use fingerprints as evidence in a murder investigation. He created a system of fingerprint identification, which he termed dactyloscopy. -
Hair Now Used in Forensics
Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert publish the first study on hair, including microscopic studies from most animals. First legal case ever involving hair also took place following this study. -
Guns Leave Unique Markings
Victor Balthazard realizes that tools used to make gun barrels never leave the same markings, and individual gun barrels leave identifying grooves on each bullet fired through it. He developed several methods of matching bullets to guns via photography. -
Crime Labs Built
First police crime lab established in Los Angeles. -
Lie Detection
Prototype polygraph, which was invented by John Larson in 1921, developed for use in police stations. -
First National Crime System
FBI established the National Crime Information Center, a computerized national filing system on wanted people, stolen vehicles, weapons, etc. -
Faster Fingerprint IDs
FBI establishes the integrated automated fingerprint identification system, cutting down fingerprint inquiry response from two weeks to two hours. -
Footwear Detection System
Britain's Forensic Science Service develops online footwear coding and detection system. This helps police to identify footwear marks quickly. -
Facial Sketches Matched to Photos
Michigan state university develops software that automatically matches hand-drawn facial sketches to mug shots stored in databases.
