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Julius Caesar is assassinated. Following this event, a physician performed an autopsy, and determined that of the 23 wounds found on the body, only one was fatal.
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In 1247 the first textbook on forensic medicine was published in China which among others things documented the procedures to be followed when investigating a suspicious death.
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The first forensic autopsies were done in Bologna by a civil officer to determine if a death being investigated was caused by fault.
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James Marsh, an English chemist, uses chemical processes to determine arsenic as the cause of death in a murder trial.
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markings of the palms of the hands and the tips of the fingers could be used for identification in criminal cases.
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Sir Francis Galton established the first system for classifying fingerprints. Sir Edward Henry, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police of London, developed his own system in 1896 based on the direction, flow, pattern and other characteristics in fingerprints.
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Victor Balthazard and Marcelle Lambert publish first study on hair, including microscopic studies from most animals. First legal case ever involving hair also took place following this study.
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Britain's Forensic Science Service develops online footwear coding and detection system. This helps police to identify footwear marks quickly.
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Japanese researchers develop a dental x-ray matching system. This system can automatically match dental x-rays in a database, and makes a positive match in less than 4 seconds.
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Rigor Mortis and Lividity are two natural occurrences within the human body after death that can be used as a means of determining - or at least estimating - when the deceased died.