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Period: to
The development of CSI sciences
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The first recorded use of questioned document analysis.
John Evangelist Purkinji, a professor of anatomy at the University of Breslau, Czechoslovakia, published the first paper on the nature of fingerprints and suggested a classification system based on nine major types. However, he failed to recognize their individualizing potential. -
Invention of the polarizing light microscope
William Nichol invented the polarizing light microscope. -
Leuch’s first noted amylase activity in human saliva.
Leuch’s first noted amylase activity in human saliva. -
The first used bullet comparison to catch a murderer
Henry Goddard, one of Scotland Yard’s original Bow Street Runners, first used bullet comparison to catch a murderer. His comparison was based on a visible flaw in the bullet which was traced back to a mold. -
The first use of toxicology (arsenic detection) in a jury trial.
James Marsh, a Scottish chemist, was the first to use toxicology (arsenic detection) in a jury trial. -
The microscopic detection of sperm
H. Bayard published the first reliable procedures for the microscopic detection of sperm. He also noted the different microscopic characteristics of various substrate fabrics. -
The first successfully identification of vegetable poisons in body tissue.
Jean Servais Stas, a chemistry professor from Brussels, Belgium, was the first successfully to identify vegetable poisons in body tissue. -
The development of the first crystal test for hemoglobin using hemin crystals
Ludwig Teichmann, in Krakow, Poland, developed the first microscopic crystal test for hemoglobin using hemin crystals. -
The first use of photography for the identification of criminals
An English physician, Maddox, developed dry plate photography, eclipsing M. Daguerre’s wet plate on tin method. This made practical the photographing of inmates for prison records. -
Thumbprints on documents
Sir William Herschel, a British officer working for the Indian Civil service, began to use thumbprints on documents both as a substitute for written signatures for illiterates and to verify document signatures. -
The development of tests for the presence of blood in a forensic context.
The Dutch scientist J. (Izaak) Van Deen developed a presumptive test for blood using guaiac, a West Indian shrub. -
The development of a presumptive test for blood.
The German scientist Schönbein first discovered the ability of hemoglobin to oxidize hydrogen peroxide making it foam. This resulted in first presumptive test for blood. -
The first use of photography for the identification of criminals and documentation of evidence and crime scenes.
Odelbrecht first advocated the use of photography for the identification of criminals and the documentation of evidence and crime scenes. -
Tips of fingers
Thomas Taylor, microscopist to U.S. Department of Agriculture suggested that markings of the palms of the hands and the tips of the fingers could be used for identification in criminal cases. Although reported in the American Journal of Microscopy and Popular Science and Scientific American, the idea was apparently never pursued from this source. -
Hair
Rudolph Virchow, a German pathologist was one of the first to both study hair and recognize its limitations. -
The first recorded use of fingerprints to solve a crime.
Henry Faulds, a Scottish physician working in Tokyo, published a paper in the journal Nature suggesting that fingerprints at the scene of a crime could identify the offender. In one of the first recorded uses of fingerprints to solve a crime, Faulds used fingerprints to eliminate an innocent suspect and indicate a perpetrator in a Tokyo burglary.