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44
The First Autopsy
44 BC; Rome was devastated with the death of their king, Gaius Julius Caesar. A while after his death a physician by the name Antistius, performed an autopsy on Caesar's body. The outcome of this autopsy was that out of the 23 stab wounds, only one was fatal. A stab wound to the heart. -
200
The First Record of Fingerprints
In 200 BC The Babylonians used fingerprints to sign contracts. This (fingerprinting) wouldn't be used in crime scene investigation until much, much later. (thousands of years) -
1248
The First Forensic Science book
Xi yuan lu (collected cases of injustice rectified) was the world's first ever systematically written book for forensic science. It was collected by a man named Song Ci of Southern Song; a provincial judicial commissioner in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Hunan, in charge of penal and prison affairs. He made an extensive collection of Nei shu lu and earlier works, drew on his own experience in the field, and compiled this work. -
1302
First Legal autopsies
These autopsies happened in Italy and performed by Dr. Bartolomeo da Varignana. As rudimentary as these operations were, they still served a big purpose in examining bodies. -
1325
The First Record
The first record of crime scene investigation was in China. A farmer was murdered; the weapon used was a sickle (common farming tool). So investigators gathered all of the sickles and found one was attracting flies. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/JAXxJw56IyvEnQ -
Invention of the Compound Microscope Pt. 1
Hans and his son Zacharias Janssen and Hans Lippershey; Dutch spectacle makers, are credited to making the first compound microscope. -
Invention of the Compound Microscope Pt. 2
In the 1660s, another Dutchman, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) made microscopes by grinding his own lenses. His simple microscopes were more like magnifying glasses, with only one lens. But the high-quality, hand-ground lenses could magnify an object by up to 200 times. Leeuwenhoek observed animal and plant tissue, human sperm and blood cells, minerals, fossils, and many other things that had never been seen before on a microscopic scale. -
Period: to
The Use of Entomology
Entomology or study of insects, has been used a lot in the world of forensics. Using the identification of insects life stages, we can find how old a corpse is. One instance in 1800s France, when a doctor analyzed the remains of a child found in an apartment building. By examining the fly larvae and moth pupae on the corpse and using his understanding of their life cycles, he concluded that the child had died between eight and ten months before the body was discovered. -
The Marsh Test method
Police arrested a man named John Bodle for lacing his grandfather's coffee with poison. A chemist by the name of James Marsh, was testing the drink and to his success he found arsenic. The only problem was after a while the sample was unstable and by the time of the trial had deteriorated. Making the evidence useless in the trial. Because of this Bodle was let go; discouraged by the verdict, Marsh became determined to make a test that would hold up in court and be conceivable to unstudied ears. -
The First Bullet Comparison
London; A homeowner was shot and killed, and the servant was suspected of the crime. Henry Goddard, one of the Bow Street Runners (an early police force), investigated the case. By looking at the evidence, Goddard was able to identify a visible flaw in the fired projectile and trace the mark to the manufacturers mold. He also identified the paper patch used to provide a seal between the projectile and the gunpowder as having been torn from a newspaper that was found in the servants quarters. -
The popularization of fingerprinting
Sir Francis Galton came up with the same classification system for inked fingerprints as we do today. Loops, whorls, and arches -
Discovery of Different Blood types
Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian-American biologist and physician. Found a way to classify blood into different types. A, B, and O. -
The First academic Curriculum for Forensic Science
Developed in Switzerland; Rodolphe Archibald Reiss was the founder of the first academic forensic science programme and the Institution of Forensic Science. -
The Locard Principle
This was an idea (and later on fact) of Dr. Edmond Locard, believing, "when two objects come into contact with each other something is exchanged and taken away by both objects." (e.g. Someone robbing someone; leaving fingerprints behind, or Someone murdering someone; the blood/ballistics are connected to the weapon.) https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100111515#:~:text=The%20principle%20described%20by%20Dr,recovery%20of%20all%20scientific%20evidence. -
The Creation of the Bureau of Forensic Ballistics
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Founding of the Body Farm
Dr. William M. Bass started the Forensic Anthropology Center (or Body Farm). But why? Turns out it was because he needed a place to keep his corpses. Starting in 1971 Bass was being approached by police and medical examiners around TN, he said he'd love to, but didn't have any room for them. He then proceeded to put one of these corpses in a bathroom beneath Neyland Stadium; which then lead to a chewing out from a janitor. He then went to the dean at UT and said he needed land for dead bodies. -
Period: to
The 21st Century
Fingerprint Protection: British researchers created a technique to retrieve fingerprints from crime scene surfaces that have been immersed in water, exposed to high temperatures or have been deformed.
Mass Spectrometry: Contributes to Toxicology, offers high selectivity and sensitivity,analyzing complex biological samples. Fights synthetic cannabinoids.
Automated Firearms Identification: uses 3D imaging and comparison algorithms to identify firearms and their components. -
Period: to
21st Century (continued)
Chemical Tracing Techniques: Chemist Carlos Fraga and his team's main goal/focus is to attain precise chemical matching. Looking at the poison (sarin for example) he can look at it's signature(impurities). Helping the police match this to whatever's at the crime scene and which suspects had access to them.