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440
44BC- Julius Caesar was famously stabbed twenty-three times
Julius Caesar was famously stabbed twenty-three times by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger. His physician later concluded that even though he was stabbed twenty-three times, only one stab was fatal. This is significant because traits of forensic analysis date back to the Roman Empire. -
Sep 12, 700
Chinese Fingerprinting
The Chinese formulated the idea of using fingerprints as the identification system of documents and clay sculptures. Their use of fingerprints is the equivalent of a signature on a document or an artists piece. -
Sep 12, 1248
First Medical Book on Solving Criminal Cases
A book titled Hsi Duan Yu by Song Ci, a Chinese writer, was the first medical knowledge record specifically geared towards solving criminal cases. This is significant because it is the start of crime solving documents that others can learn from. It can even be interpreted that this is the very first forensics textbook. -
First Pathology Reports
During this century, the first documented pathology reports came to be. This is significant because not only is forensics being studied in a deeper level, but subsections are being detailed and recorded in documentation. -
Arsenic can now be detected in corpses
This year, it was discovered that arsenic could be detected in corpses, however it was only detectable in large quantities. This discovery was by chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele from Sweden. -
The Jon Toms Case
The first murder conviction using physical matching was on Jon Toms in Lancaster, England. They were able to convict him because they found a ripped off corner of newspaper in the murder weapon – a pistol – that matched a piece of newspaper in Toms’ pocket. -
First Detective force formed in Paris
The first detective force titled the Sûreté of Paris was formed by Eugène François Vidocq. He was originally convicted of a crime and sent to jail, but through making a deal with the police in forming the Sûreté of Paris, there was a suspension of his arrest and jail sentence. -
First bullet comparison
This was when the first bullet comparison was used to catch a murderer. Henry Goddard discovered and used this method by noticing a visible flaw in the bullet that matched the mold of the murder weapon. -
First time arsenic detection is used in a jury trial
This was the first use of arsenic detection as the reason for decease in a jury trial made by James Marsh. This is significant because it brings the methods of forensics into the court room and brought before a jury for evidentiary support. -
Anthropometry is formed
Stemming in Chicago, the Bertillon System of Identification (or Anthropometry) was formed by a French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon. This system of identification is based on physical features and dimensions of certain bones of previous offenders which could be used to identify them again if they had an altered identity. -
Criminal Investigation is published
The publication of Criminal Investigation, a book by Hans Gross, was the first complete depiction of practices of physical evidence in the field of crime solving. -
First case of using fingerprint to convit a killer
Argentinian police officer Juan Vucetich was able to extract a bloody fingerprint from a door to solve a murder case. This was the first evidence used that included the use of fingerprints to convict a killer and create a workable system of identification titled Dactyloscopy. -
Discovery of different human blood groups
This was the first identification of different human blood groups (A, B, and O) made by Karl Landsteiner and Max Richter. This discovery opened the door to possibilities of more knowledge of a crime through blood. -
FBI established
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was established by American President Theodore Roosevelt.