| Sung Tzu (China, 1247) | Earliest known record of medical determinations of death (cause of death) i.e. drowning = presence of water in the lungs, death by smoke inhalation = ash in lungs. Book “The Washing Away of Wrongs” became the first official texts for death investigations. |
| Marcello Malpighi (Italy 1660) | Earliest known description of ridge pattern of fingerprints. 1686, describes ridge patterns, loops and whorls. |
| Dr. Nehemiah Grew (1684, England) | Described ridges and pores on hands and feet Tried to show that there was a difference in these ridges on each person. |
| 1784, England | The first use of ballistics to solve a criminal case Comparison of paper wad in victim with wads in suspect's pocket. Intragal parts matching – used today to match car parts in hit and runs. |
| 1804, Germany | Discovery of ultraviolet radiation Alternative light sources may be able to detect evidence, such as bodily fluids and hairs/fibers. This is the only time you do things in the dark. |
| Mathew Orfila (1814, France) | Father of forensic toxicology. Established forensic toxicology. Scientific study of the detection of pathological effects of poison. |
| *Johannes E. Durkinje (1823, Prussia) | First individual to describe fingerprint classification system Distinguishes 9 types, the basis for the whorl, loop, arch. |
| *Henry Goddard, 1835 | Studied the marks on bullets. The first practical demonstration that imperfections in bullet molds correspond to marks on the bullets. Can match bullets to the mold used. |
| *James Marsh (1836, England) | Developed a test for arsenic Worked off of Orfila |
| 1843, Belgium | Earliest documentation of photography by police, US and France followed in 1850 |
| Adolphe Quetelet (1846, Belgium) | Bertillon's anthropometry, book published on this topic |
| William J Herschel (1858, India) | Study of regular and distinct ridge patterns on fingerprints First to use these as a means of identification 1877, tried to implement them in Indias prison system but was denied. |
| 1859, US | Introduction of photographs to a court of law |
| Rudolph Virchow, 1861, Germany | Father of modern pathology First to study hair as evidence |
| Paul Jean Coulier (1863, France) | Latent fingerprints through iodine fuming. Recommended use of magnification for identification. |
| Friedrich Miescher (1869, Switzerland) | Discovered DNA Nucleic acid, 1889 |
| Walter N Hattey (1878, England) | Developed ultraviolet spectrograph. |
| Angelo Mosso (1878, Italy) | Develops plethysmograph to study the effects of emotions and fear on subjects being questioned, as well as the cardiovascular and respiratory system. Start of the polygraph |
| Alphonse Bertillon (1879, France) | Development of anthropometry (measurements of the human body for identification.) Combined with photography The Bertillon system of identification. - 3 main parts, focused on precise locations of the body that rarely change. Started descriptions of identifying marks and features. |
| Henry Faulds (1880, Japan) | Experimented with lifting fingerprints with powder. First publication of application of fingerprints for identification. |
| Alexandre Lacassagne (1889) | The first to identify the firearm from which a bullet was fired from. Identified distinct grooves and lands that can be connected to the barrel a projectile was fired from. |
| Sir Frances Galton (1892, England) | Book called fingerprints First book on fingerprints and their use for solving crimes. Credited with the first scientific classification system based on arches, loop, and whorls. Minutia = Galton's details, the first to identify details in latent fingerprint impressions. |
| 1892 Argentina | The first use of fingerprints to convict a suspect of murder. Becomes the first country to adopt fingerprinting as the preferred method of identification. |
| Dr Sir James Mackenzie | Developed clinical graph for monitoring pulse rates during medical examination, results were recorded on graph paper. Contributed to what becomes the modern-day polygraph. |
| Hans Gross (1893, Austria) | Father of criminalistics Book detailed assistance for investigators about various fields of science and the way they could be applied to the criminal justice field. |
| Wilhelm C Roentgen (1895, Germany) | Discovered x-rays |
| Dr. Cesare Lombroso (1895, Italy) | Modified the hydrophyginograph to measure changes to blood pressure and pulse rate during interrogations. Credited with the first use of lie detections in Italian courts |
| Paul Jererich (1898, Germany) | First comparison of ballistics of bullets fired from a gun in a controlled setting to compare to a bullet from a crime scene. Details related to individual weapons left behind on projectiles. |
| Karl Landsteiner (1901, Austria) | Developed blood typing system Detection of blood and what species it belongs to |
| Edward Henry (1901, India) | Published work on the classification of fingerprints Made modifications on the previous work done Established the 4 type patterns, arches, loops, whorls, and accidents. This is called the “Henry System” |
| Paul Uhlenhuth (1901, Germany0 | Developed the precipitin test to distinguish primate blood from other animals. Helped establish standards and control for labs so that they are viable in a court of law. |
| 1902, England | First use of fingerprint evidence in English courts. |
| Thomas H Morgan (1909, US) | First demonstration that chromosomes carry inherited information. Basis of DNA evidence |
| Edmond Locard (1910, France) | First forensic laboratory Formulation of the Contract Trace Theory or Locards Theory of Exchange, which says every contact you make leaves a trace. |
| Albert S Osborn (1910, US) | Book, questioned documents, which remains a leading authority of subject as of this day. Responsible for the acceptance of documents as scientific evidence by the courts. |
| 1910, US, Illinois v Jennings | First conviction case in the US utilizing fingerprint identification. |
| Victor Balthazard (1913, France) | Book, Hair of Man and Animals, published articles describing the significance of bullet markings, showing that they make each bullet unique. First scientist to study hair as evidence. |
| Dr Vittorio Bennusi (1914, Italy) | Developed pneumography to record breathing patterns to verify truth and detect deceptions. Changes of breathing when people lie More work towards the modern-day polygraph |
| Leone Lattes (1915, Italy) | Developed procedure for restoring dried blood stains on cloth and other materials using a saline solution. |
| Dr William M Marston (1915, US) | Credited with the invention of an early form of lie detector with discontinuous systolic blood pressure test. Started the wonder women comics. |
| Luke May (1920, US) | First study of striation marks on tools. Every tool leaves unique markings on surfaces. |
| Charles Weight (1920, US) | Development of intentional catalog of firearms. |
| John Larson (1921, US) | Development of the first modern lie detector machine (polygraph) measuring blood pressure and breathing. Found inadmissible in court |
| Calvin Goddard (1925) | Forensic ballistics 1925.ather of modern ballistics First used the term forensic ballistics Established the bureau of forensic ballistics 1925 Examined evidence from the valentine's day massacre. Appointed doctor of scientific crime detection laboratory Assisted FBI in establishing a firearms unit. |
| Philip Gravelle and Calvin Goddard (1925) | Developed the comparison microscope. |
| Tomas Gonzales (1930’s, Mexico) | Developed a dermal nitrate test for gunshot residue (wax test) 1959 – replaced with the color test with reagents that changed colors in the presence of gunshot residue Gunshot residue is airborne so gunshot residue tests can only determine that someone was in the vicinity of a gunshot. |
| Walter Specht (1937, US) | The first suggestion that luminol can be used as a preliminary test for the presence of blood. Isn't 100% positive, there can be false negatives and false positives. It only works in 100% darkness, so it’s a lot of work to use. |
| Paul Leland Kirk (1934) | Book, Crime Investigation, Physical Evidence and the Police Laboratory. Developed criminalistics program at UCLA |
| Archer Martin (1941) | Development of liquid-column chromatography |
| Rockefeller Institute (1943) | DNA was a carrier of genetic information and how it can be related to law enforcement. |
| Frances Crick (1953) | Discovery of the double helix structure and its value at crime scenes. |
| Charles Oatley (1956) | High resolution scanning electron microscope. |
| 1975, US | Development of AFIS Automated Fingerprint Identification system. AFIS helped them organize and sort through all of the fingerprints. |
| Fusao Matsumura (1977, Japan) | Discovered that the fingerprint can be developed through Cyanoacrylate test (super glue) |
| Bob Freeman and Doug Foster (1978) | Invention of the electrostatic detection apparatus Used to reveal handwriting on paper and latent impressions, especially when they were made in dust. “Electrostatic dust lifter” |
| Alec Jeffery (1984) | Development of DNA profiling test. 1986, the first time DNA was used to exonerate an innocent person. |
| 1987, US | First use of DNA in US courts. Found admissible in court due to the Frye Standards, which leads to the introduction of accreditation standards and quality control for labs. |
| Karl Millis (1990’s) | Development of PCR typing for DNA |
| 1990, US | Implementation of FBI CODIS Combined DNA Index System. National database for DNA profiling. |
| Robin Richards (1991, England) | Laser scanning technology to reconstruct skeletal remains. |