Forensic Timeline

  • First use of Forensic Science
    1248

    First use of Forensic Science

    In 1248, Song Ci wrote about the first uses of medicine and entomology to solve crimes during the Song Dynasty. He described how to differentiate between different types of crimes, and how to examine corpses to determine if a death was a murder, suicide, or accident.
  • Mathieu Orfila

    Mathieu Orfila

    Orfila developed a way to test for Arsenic, a poison commonly used for murder while he was alive.
  • William Hershcel

    William Hershcel

    Herschel used thumbprints as a form of identification on documents for workers in India.
  • Alphonse Bertillon

    Alphonse Bertillon

    Dubbed the "Father of Criminal Identification", he used body measurements as a form of identification, called Anthropometry.
  • Henry Faulds

    Henry Faulds

    Used fingerprint Identification to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect.
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Doyle published his first "Sherlock Holmes" novel. Popularized scientific crime detection methods, and was featured in 4 novel and over 50 shirt stories.
  • Francis Galton

    Francis Galton

    Galton conducted the first definitive fingerprint study and proved that fingerprints are unique to each person.
  • Hans Gross

    Hans Gross

    Wrote the first paper that applied scientific principles to criminal investigation. Published "criminal Investigation"
  • Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner

    Discovered the ABO blood types, and won a Nobel Prize.
  • Edmond Locard

    Edmond Locard

    Incorporated Gross' principles inside of a crime lab, became the founder of the Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyon, France.
  • Albert S. Osborn

    Albert S. Osborn

    Published "Questioned Documents", which helped develop the fundamentals of document examination.
  • Leone Lattes

    Leone Lattes

    Lattes developed a blood typing method that worked on dried blood, which is usually found at crime scenes.
  • August Vollmer

    August Vollmer

    Established the first Crime Lab in Los Angeles, California.
  • Calvin Goddard

    Calvin Goddard

    Developed the comparison microscope, which was first used to compare bullets to see if they were fired form the same weapon.