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Jan 1, 1248
First Timers
First forensic science manual published by the Chinese. This was the first known record of medical knowledge being used to solve criminal cases. -
A list of Firsts
First recorded instance of physical matching of evidence leading to a murder conviction (John Toms, England). Evidence was a torn edge of newspaper in a pistol that matched newspaper in his pocket. -
Start of Western science
The first recorded use of questioned document analysis.
Development of tests for the presence of blood.
A bullet comparison used to catch a murderer.
The first use of toxicology in a jury trial.
The development of the first crystal test for hemoglobin
The first use of photography for identification of criminals and documentation of evidence and crime scenes.
The first recorded use of fingerprints.
The development of the first microscope with a comparison bridge. -
Progress
Establishment of the popular practice of using the comparison microscope for bullet comparison -
More Progress
Development of the absorption-inhibition ABO blood typing technique -
Even More Progress...
Invention of the first interference contrast microscope -
Laws of science
Enactment of the Federal Rules of Evidence -
Oh Look! More Progress
the use of DNA to solve a crime and exonerate an innocent suspect -
Evolution of criminal science
the introduction of DNA profiling in the U.S. A criminal court case in which the admissibility of DNA was seriously challenged set in motion a string of events that culminated in a call for certification, accreditation, standardization and quality control guidelines for both DNA laboratories and the general forensic community. -
Getting Clever
NAS research group exposed a long-held FBI theory that every batch of gun ammunition ever made carries its own unique chemical fingerprint.
