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1300
13th Century China
The first case ever recorded using forensic science. The case was about someone being stabbed. The people in the town all worked together to find the killer. Flies were attracted to the blood and laded on one of the knives which causes the suspect to confess. -
Mathieu Orfila
Considered the "Father of Forensic Toxicology" since he published the first scientific paper on the detection of poison. -
William Herschel
He used thumbprints on documents to identify workers in India. -
Alphonse Bertillon
"Father of Criminal Identification" and developed anthropometry which uses body measurements to distinguish individuals. -
Henry Faulds
Used fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect. -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published his first "Sherlock Holmes" story and considered the first "CSI" featured in four novels and 56 short stories which popularized scientific crime-detection methods. -
Francis Galton
Published finger prints and conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification which gave proof of their uniqueness. -
Hans Gross
Wrote the first paper "Criminal Investigation" describing the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation. -
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered the ABO blood groups, Later received and Nobel Prize. He also discovered the Rh of a blood type (positive and negative). -
Edmond Locard
Incorporated Gross' principles within a workable crime lab and became the father and director of the institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons, France. -
Albert S Osborn
Published questioned documents and developed the fundamental principles of document examination. -
Leone Lattes
Developed a method for determining blood type from dried blood. -
August Vollmer
Established the first crime lab in the United States, located in Los Angeles. -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope that was first used to compare bullets to see if it fired from the same weapon.
