Timeline: Forensic Importance

1830

Mathieu Orfila

"Father of Toxicology" helped make things like chemical analysis a routine check at crime scenes. He also helped make studies of asphyxiation, the decompositions of bodies, and exhumation. He became dean of a Medical institute in 1830.

1879

Wilhelm Wundt

Often called the "Father of Psychology", Wundt opened the first psychological laboratory in 1879. Since then Forensic Psychology has blossomed into the expert-filled profession it is today.

1884

Alphonse Bertillion

Alphonse was the first to create a system of physical measurements photography and record-keeping. Even though this can be used by Forensic scientists to help identify the culprit but it is mainly used by the police every day. In 1884 he identified more than 200 multiple offenders.

1892

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The famous author of Sherlock Holmes novels written in 1892 and creation of the character. The techniques used in his books were accurate and frequently used techniques. By doing this he not only inspired their uses by law enforcement but also put belief in good results from their use.

1894

H.H. Holmes

The first American serial killer, Holmes is what led to the understanding of killing a multitude of people. Before him, people had never heard of killing multiple people. Holmes is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 people. He was caught in 1894 after he killed a family and used their deaths to commit fraud.

1895

Wilhelm His Sr.

The creator of facial reconstruction was also known for the creation of histogenesis. He reconstructed the face of a composer in 1895, and since then facial reconstruction has been used to better identify victims of murder and assaults, as well as accidents.

1900

Francis Galton

With his contribution of fingerprinting as a reliable way of identification, Forensic Science advanced by leaps and bounds, now able to have a greater chance of catching the culprit of a crime.

1910

Albert Osman

The first Document examiner, and forged document examiner. Made it possible to use documents as evidence and disprove or prove documentation of all kinds which can lead to the catching of a culprit.

1910

The Creation of the First Forensic Lab

Created by Edmond Lycard for police in 1910. Because of this now most if not every police station has a forensics lab or one that they can send samples to. This also led to Forensics being a regular and readily available resource for law enforcement.

1915

Leone Lattes

In 1915, Lattes was the first person to restore dried blood samples in order to test them for blood type. Since then blood identification has blossomed and grown into one of the most used ways of identification, along with fingerprints.

1925

Calvin Goddard

In 1925 Goddard, helped open the first laboratory for firearm examination. Since then ballistics is one of the most used examinations and analyses used by law enforcement today.

1929

Frances Glessnor Lee

She is called "The Mother of Forensics" and is most known for her "Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Deaths" dioramas. But through her dioramas and other achievements, plus her large donations to Harvard for the furthering of Forensic Science.

1993

Kary B. Mullis

Kary is best known for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction method. For his creation, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993. His creation allowed for a small sample of DNA to be copied and therefore better able to be used for analysis and examination.

Jul 19, 2004