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Mathieu Orfila
Known as the father of toxiology, in 1812 Mathieu Orfila published his book on the effects of poison on animals. -
Photography
During the 1850s & 1860s, the first photographs were taken in prisons to identify the inmates. -
Microcrystaline test
In 1853, the first microcrystaline test for hemoglobin was performed. Hemoglobin is found in the blood, thus allowing detectives to determine if a stain was caused by blood spatters. -
Alphonse Bertillon
Alphonse Bertillon is known as the father of Criminal Identification. He used anthropology and morphology to develop criminal identification. His work was of great use when identifying serial killers and repeat offenders in the United States and Europe. Bertillon was also able to identify that the man who killed five prostitutes in London was Jack the Ripper. -
Francis Henry Galton
Known as the father of fingerprinting, Galton published the book Finger Prints. -
FBI Origin
The FBI was created in 1908 by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte -
Albert S Osborn
Known as the father of questioned documents, Osborn developed a fundamental document examination. -
Edmond Locard
Locard began the foundation of his criminal laboratory in 1910. He produced a monumental, seven-volume work, Traité de Criminalistique. He formulated the basic principle of forensic science: "Every contact leaves a trace". This became known as Locard's exchange principle. -
Leone Lattes
Professor Leone Lattes develops the first antibody test for ABO blood types. Lattes is the father of bloodstain identification. -
Missing Children Created
A system for locating missing children was created by the FBI in 1982 in order to make it easier to find them. -
Automated Fingerprint Identification System
-national automated fingerprint identification
-used for criminal history system
-maintained by FBI
-AFIS provides automated fingerprint search capabilites, latent searching capability, electronic image storage, and electronic exchange of fingerprints and responses -
The murder of Leanne Tiernan
Leanne Tiernan was abducted less than a mile away from her home on her way back from a shopping trip, and her body was found in the woods in August of 2001. Her murderer, John Taylor, was identified through DNA analysis. Taylor was sentenced to life in prison.
