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1300
13th Century China
The first case ever recorded using forensic science. When someone was stabbed, all the knives in the village were collected. Flies were attracted to the traces of blood, so they landed on the knife that was the murder weapon. This forced the suspect to confess of the crime. -
Mathieu Orfila
Considered the "Father of Forensic Toxicology". He was a chemist who published the first scientific paper on the detection of poisons and their effect on animals. -
William Herschel
Used thumbprints on documents to identify workers in India. -
Alphonse Bertillon
"Father of Criminal Identification". Developed Anthropometry which uses body measurements to distinguish individuals. -
Henry Faulds
Uses fingerprints to eliminate an innocent burglary suspect. -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Published his first Sherlock Holmes story. Considered the first "CSI", featured in four novels and 56 short stories, popularized scientific crime-detection methods. -
Francis Galton
Published "Finger Prints" and conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification. Gave proof of their uniqueness. -
Hans Gross
Wrote the first paper describing the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation and published "Criminal Investigation". -
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered the A, B, AB, and O blood groups. He later received the Nobel Prize for this discovery. -
Edmond Locard
Incorporated Gross’ principles within a workable crime lab and later became the founder 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 United States. Specifically located in Los Angeles, California. -
Calvin Goddard
Developed a comparison microscope and it was first used to compare bullets to see if fired from the same weapon.
