True Crime Timeline

Here's the aforementioned timeline. I had no idea some of these techniques were so old. This has been one of my favorite articles to research (second only to the pirate article). Anyway, enjoy, and hope you learn something from it. I certainly did. 

• c. 100 BC: Roman attorney Quintilian won his client's acquittal by proving that he did not leave the bloody palm prints found at the murder scene.
• 1248: As mentioned previously, the Chinese knew how to determine drownings, suicides, etc. The book is called "Hsai Duan Yi," or "The Washing Away of Wrongs," if you're interested.
• 1784, England: John Toms convicted of murder based on paper found in the wound of a dead man.
• 1813, France: First modern toxicology text published by Mathiew Orfila. He also made the first attempt to study blood and semen stains using a microscope in 1813.
• 1828: Polarizing microscope invented.
• 1835, England: Bullet comparison used to ID a killer.
• 1836, Scotland: First use of toxicology in court. Arsenic poisoning proven as cause of death.
• 1839: First use of microscope to detect sperm, and for microscopic fabric analysis.
• 1851, Belgium: First test developed to detect presence of  botanical poisons.
• 1853,Poland: Test developed to determine presence of hemoglobin, even when no blood is visible.
• 1854, England: Dry plate photography developed, making mug shots a practical method of identifying criminals.
• 1863, Germany: More accurate test for hemoglobin developed.
• 1864, Germany: First use of mug shots and crime scene photography.
• 1877, US: Paper published suggesting finger and palm prints as a means of identification. The idea is not pursued.
• 1879, Germany: First microscopic study of hair.
• 1880, Japan: Fingerprints used to exonerate person in a Tokyo burglary case.
• 1892: First comprehensive treatise on using fingerprints to solve crimes.
• 1894, France: Albert Dreyfus wrongly convicted through flawed handwriting analysis.
• 1896: Modern fingerprint classification system developed. It is still used today.
• 1898, Germany: First microscopic bullet analysis.
• 1900: Karl Landsteiner discovers human blood type. Max Richter uses this to develop a way to determine the type of bloodstains.
• 1901, UK: Scotland Yard requires fingerprinting of all arrests.
• 1903, US: New York State first uses modern fingerprinting.
• 1908, US: FBI established.
• 1910, France: First use of hair examination to solve a case.
• 1915, Italy: First antibody test used to determine paternity.
• c. 1920: First use of forensic botany.
• 1921, US: Portable polygraph developed.
• 1925, Japan: Scientists ID bodily fluids other than blood that are unique to each individual. (semen, saliva, sweat, etc.)
• 1932, US: FBI Crime Lab founded.
• 1941, US: Voice analysis developed.
• 1945, US: Test to detect presence of semen developed.
• 1960, Canada: Use of gas chromatography in forensics in order to ID accelerants. 
• 1974: Testing for gunshot residue is made possible with electron microscopes.
• 1977, Japan: Process for finding and examining latent fingerprints with superglue fuming discovered by accident.
• 1986, UK: First use of DNA to solve a murder. Colin Pitchfork was convicted of murdering two teenage girls based on DNA tests.
• 1987, US: First use of DNA in the US; Tommy Lee Andrews was convicted of a series of sexual assaults in Orlando, FL.
• 1998, US: FBI establishes a DNA database.
• 1999, US: FBI computerizes its fingerprint database.