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In the 600s, Arabian merchants would use fingerprints to hold people accountable for their bills. They would make them stamp their fingerprint on their bill. -
In 1248, the Chinese published the first forensic science book. -
In 1609, Galileo Galilei created the first microscope. Microscopes changed all fields of science, especially forensics. It was not until the 1850s when they became standard equipment in labs. -
Mathieu Orfila was known as the founding father of modern toxicology. He created a test that allows people to find the presence of arsenic. -
In 1903, the New York State Prison System, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons began using a fingerprint system to identify people. -
Archibald Reiss founded the institut de police scientifique of the University of Lausanne which was the first school of forensic science. Reiss was known as the "Sherlock Holmes of France." -
Edmond Locard is known as the father of forensic science. Not only did he create the Locard Exchange Principle, which states that a criminal will always leave a trace of themselves behind, but he also created the first police laboratory in 1910. -
The first lie detector test is created from a polygraph that John Larson invented in 1921. It was adapted to use in a police station. -
William Maples was a forensic anthropologist at the University of Florida. He was known for human identification and trauma analysis. -
The National Crime Information Center was established by the FBI in 1967. This was a filing system on a computer that organized stolen vehicles, weapons, wanted people, etc. -
The OJ Simpson case majorly changed how crime scenes are dealt with. Due to the mistakes made in collecting and preserving evidence during this case, changes were made to ensure that crime scenes would remain untampered with.