Forensic Science

The following substances catalyze luminol:

• animal proteins
• blood (via the iron in hemoglobin)
• copper
• cyanide
• fecal matter
• horseradish (via horseradish peroxidase)
• iron and ferrous oxide (rust)
• potassium permanganate
• saliva
• vegetable enzymes

Dr Edmund Locard is the father of modern forensics. It was the advancements by Locard that has shaped the way forensics work today.

Locard studied medicine and law in Lyon, France and eventually joined the French police in 1910. In the police force he requested his superiors give him two quiet rooms and two assistants, which he was given. This became the worlds first ever forensic laboratory.

Locard is also known as the "Sherlock Holmes of France." He famously said "Every contact leaves a trace" (meaning every criminal leaves a clue behind no matter how careful they are). The same principle is applied today in modern forensics.

However there have been many other fathers and founding-evidences of forensics:

• 700 BC - Archaeologists discovered fingerprints in Ancient Babylon dating back to 700BC imprinted in clay tablets. They were used for criminal records and business transaction records.
• 287 BC - Archimedes in Ancient Greece proves a royal crown was fake and not made of gold using density and buoyancy.
• 250 BC - Erasistratus in Ancient Greece discovers that when people lie, their pulse gets faster. This was used as the first lie detection method.
• Around 1235 AD - Sung Tzu (no relation to Sun Tzu), a Judicial Intendant (judge) during China's Sung Dynasty uses the study of bugs to solve a murder. A murder was committed using a sickle. Everybody in the village of the murder was ordered to stand in a line outside the village in the hot sun, surrounded by Chinese soldiers, with their sickles on the ground in front of them. The plan was to either get someone to crack in the heat and confess, or test a theory he had about bugs and dried blood. Eventually, flies gathered on one particular sickle. When the sickle was broken apart, dry blood was found trapped inside after seeping into the handle. The owner of the sickle was charged with murder.
• 1248 AD - A book is published in China, "His Duan Yu", meaning "The Washing Away of Wrongs". It contained detailed forensic observations on how to tell if someone drowned accidently or on purpose and how to distinguish between deaths by drowning and deaths by strangulation.
• 1302 - Bartolomeo da Varignana performs the first official forensic autopsy on a murder victim.
• 1447 - First use of dentistry to solve a crime. Teeth are used to identify the body of the missing French Duke of Burgundy.
• 1609 - Francois Damelle publishes the first treatise on systemic document examination.
• 1658 - British biologist and physician, Sir Thomas Browne, discovered adipocere. A fatty, waxy substance formed on human corpses buried in moist, air-free places.
• 1658 - Professor of anatomy, Marcello Malpighi, studies the lost secrets of fingerprints (which were already previously known to the Ancient Babylonians). He discovers unique features of fingerprints such as ridges, spirals and loops.
• 1775 - Advancements in investigating poison-related deaths thanks to Karl Whilhelm Scheele. He discovered that arsenious oxide can be changed into arsenious acid, which was used in forensic detection of arsenic poison.
• 1786 - John Toms, from England, is convicted of murder. The gunpowder in the pistol he had hidden in his pocket leaked and created a perfect outline of the pistol on a piece of paper in the same pocket. He shot his victim and threw the gun away nearby. He was caught by matching the shape of the gun to the outline on the paper found in his pocket. The first recorded use of physical matching forensics.
• Around the 1800's - English naturalist Thomas Bewick uses engravings of his own fingerprints to identify books he publishes, proving him as the original author. The first ever recorded use of copyright and fraud protection.
• 1810 - Apologetic, reformed French criminal Eugene Francois Vidocq was pardoned for his crimes. In return he founded the worlds first detective agency in Paris.
• 1810 - Ink and dye analysis is born in Germany. A chemical test, known as Konigin Hanschritt, helps detect and solve cases of fraud.
• 1813 - Matthew Orfila, publishes a book on his discoveries in toxicology. He is considered the founding father of toxicology.
• 1817 - T. Bateman discovered and publishes findings of senile ecchymoses, discovered by noting dark purple blotches on victims caused by extravasation of blood into the dermal tissues.
• 1823 - Professor John Evangelist Purkinji publishes his thesis discussing 9 fingerprint patterns.
• 1828 - William Nicol invents the polarising light microscope, advancing forensic evidence detection. Even though he didn't work in crime detection, he is considered the founder of advanced microscopic forensics.
• 1829 - Sir Robert Christison publishes Treatise on Poisons.
• 1829 - Thomas Bell discovers "Pink Teeth". A pathognomonic of hanging and drowning.
• 1829 - Scotland Yard is founded by British Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel. It is the worlds largest and most advanced detective agency at the time. Scotland Yard covered the entire British Empire, not just mainland Britain. To this day, Scotland Yard still assist British Commonwealth colonies in forensics.
• Around the 1830's - Adolpge Quetelet, from Belgium proves that no two human bodies are alike, including twins. His studies helped to advance body identification and reduce mistaken identities in forensics.
• 1835 - Henry Goddard, Scotland Yard detective, uses the first bullet comparison test to catch a murderer.
• 1836 - James Marsh, an English chemist, further improves and develops a test used to trace the presence of arsenic in human tissues, known as the Marsh Test. It is the first toxicology evidence presented to a jury in court.
• 1839 - British Dr John Davy discovers the relationship between body temperature and time of death by experimenting on dead Maltese and British soldiers.
• 1839 - H. Baynard publishes the first official book detailing the microscopic detection of sperm, which advanced the detection and conviction of rapists. He also published detailed books on microscopic characteristics of fibres. He is considered the founder of advanced organic microscopic forensics.
• 1851 - Jean Servais Stas, a chemist from Brussels, successfully detects and identifies vegetable poisons in body tissues.
• 1851 - Due to toxicological advances, Britain passes a law, controlling the import and sale of arsenic in the country. The rest of the world follows this example.
• 1853 - Ludwig Teichmann, a Polish scientist, develops the microscopic crystal test for haemoglobin using hemin crystals.
• 1855 - Ambroise August Tardieu discovers petechial haemorrhages, caused by asphyxial deaths. A major part of modern-day autopsies.
• 1856 - Sir William Herschel uses his thumbprints on documents to prevent fraud.
• 1862 - Dutch scientist Izaak Van Deen develops the presumptive blood test using the West Indian shrub, Guaiac.
• 1863 - Taylor and Wilkes publish findings improving the knowledge of body temperature and time of death relationships by taking into account atmosphere changes.
• 1863 - German scientist Schonbein improves presumptive blood testing by discovering the ability of haemoglobin to oxidise hydrogen peroxide.
• 1864 - Odelbrecht is the first detective to use photography to identify and record criminals as well as documentation of crime scenes and evidence.
• 1877 - Thomas Taylor discovers that markings on palms of hands can be used to detect criminals just as well as fingerprints.
• 1879 - German pathologist Rudolph Virchow studied hair and discovered its importance in forensics and autopsies.
• 1880 - Scottish Henry Faulds used fingerprints to prove a suspect was innocent. The first time fingerprints were used to prove innocence instead of guilt.
• 1883 - Alphonse Bertillon improves tactics in detecting repeat offenders by the invention of anthropometry.
• 1887 - Arthur Conan Doyle publishes his first Sherlock Holmes story, with more to follow. The stories charismatically motivated the world to improve forensic science and crime detection.

  Scotland Yard even named a department after Sherlock Holmes - HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System), it still exists today.

• 1889 - Forensic detective Alexandre Lacassagne solves a crime by discovering gun barrels make a unique impression on bullets, just like fingerprints. He is the father of ballistic forensics.
• 1892 - Finally the first official fingerprint classification system is introduced in Britain by Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin. Followed by Juan Vucetich in Latin America and Sir Edward Richard Henry in North America and Europe.
• 1895 - The first lie detector is invented by Cesare Lombroso. However it was very sloppy and unreliable.
• 1901 - Karl Landsteiner discovers human blood groups. Max Richter adapts the techniques to identify blood stains in murders.
• 1901 - Head of Scotland Yard, Sir Edward Richard Henry, orders that fingerprint identification replaces anthropometry identification permanently. He is the founder of criminal fingerprint records and of global recognition of the importance of fingerprints in forensics.
• 1902 - Professor R. A. Reiss founded and runs the worlds first academic studies in forensic science. He is the father of forensic educational studies and forensic qualifications.
• 1903 - New York State Prison in the United States orders all inmates to be forced to give their fingerprints for record purposes. Those who resisted were beaten by guards, tied down and forced. This led to prisons all over the United States and the world doing the same or something similar.
• 1904 - Revenstorf discovers that diatoms can be used to distinguish between ante-mortem and post-mortem drowning.
• 1904 - Georg Popp, a German forensic scientist, uses geology for the first time to solve the murder of a woman in a field. The suspect left his scarf behind, which contained microscopic particles of coal as well as a variety of unique minerals such as hornblende. The murderer worked in a gasworks where the same type of coal and minerals were found in the factory and on his work clothes and in his home. Georg Popp is the father of forensic geology.
• 1905 - US President Theodore Roosevelt establishes the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an advanced detective agency similar to Scotland Yard in Britain.
• 1906 - Sir James Mackenzie builds the first reliable polygraph (lie detector). He is one of the two founders of forensic lie detection. (See 1921)
• 1910 - Edmund Locard establishes the worlds first ever specialist forensic laboratories in Lyons, France. Locard pushed for the development of forensics and insisted that every police force in the world should have forensic laboratories and specialist forensic scientists rather than leaving it all down to mere detectives. His teachings and philosophy help spread the knowledge of forensics and encouraged police forces to share forensic advances with the rest of the world. His philosophy "every contact leaves a trace" is a major component of modern day forensics and even serves as the motto for many forensic agencies around the globe.

  Edmund Locard is the founding father of modern forensics and the most highly regarded of all the founding fathers of the science.

• 1912 - Massaeo Takayama improves the knowledge haemoglobins by developing new tests involving hemochromogen crystals.
• 1913 - J.J Thompson develops the mass spectrometer. A device used to determine masses of particles to identify the elemental composition of a sample or molecule. Improved versions of the machines are used by laboratories all over the globe today and have helped to solve hundreds of thousands of previously unsolved crimes. J.J Thompson is the founder of forensic spectrography.
• 1916 - Alber Schneider of the USA invents and uses a vacuum apparatus to collect tiny particles of evidence at a crime scene. The techniques are still used today.
• 1918: Edmund Locard suggests a minimum of 12 matching points for fingerprint identification. Still used today.

• 1920: Edmund Locard announces "Locard's Exchange Principle". Georg Popp pioneers the use of botany and botanical sciences in forensics. He is now also the founder of botanical forensics.

• 1921 - John Larson improves the polygraph, making it more reliable and develops a portable version. He is the second founder of forensic lie detection.
• 1925 - Saburo Sirai of Japan is credited with the first recognition of secretion of group-specific antigens into body fluids other than blood.
• 1928 - Meuller, a medico-legal investigator, discovered that salivary amylase can be used to test salivary stains in forensics.
• 1932 - Finally the FBI develop their first forensic laboratory. The United States is finally catching up with the rest of the world with forensic advancements, having been so behind, compared to Europe, Britain and Australasia.
• 1933 - Teodoro Gonzales introduces diphenylamine. A forensic chemical test used to detect microscopic traces of gunshot residue (GSR).
• 1935 - Frits Zernike, a Dutch physicist, invents the interference contrast microscope. Advancing forensic microscopy even further.
• 1937 - Walter Specht develops chemiluminescent luminol. A chemical test to detect blood. Even if the blood has been cleaned up.
• 1940 - Vincent Hnizda studied and furthered forensic knowledge of ignitable fluids and identification of ignitable fluids on debris, in response to the rapid increase of arson-related crimes in the USA. He is considered the founder of forensic fire investigation.
• During the 1940's - Multiple advances in forensic dentistry during the second world war, mostly for identifying dead allied troops who's identities were obscured by war damage.
• 1941 - Murray Hill pioneers voice-print identification.
• 1945 - Frank Lundquist, from Denmark, develops the acid phosphatase test for semen. This improved conviction rates of sex-murders and rapes. Frank Lundquist is the founder of advanced bodily fluid forensics.
• 1950 - Max Frei-Sulzer invents specialist forensic tape for collecting trace evidence without compromising, contaminating or destroying the evidence.
• 1953 - James Watson and Francis Crick publish a paper identifying the structure of DNA.
• 1954 - R. F Borkenstien develops a field breathalyser test in response to an increase in drunk driving hit and runs. The breathalyser is used all over the globe to this day.
• 1957 - Mocker and Stewart publish the first complete detailed stages of skeletal growth. They are considered semi-founding pioneers of forensic osteology.
• 1959 - Harrison and Gilroy invent a colourimetric chemical test used to detect barium, antimony and lead on the hands of criminals who recently fired a gun.
• 1966 - Brian J Culliford and Brian Wraxall of Britain develop the immunoelectrophoretic technique for haptoglobin typing in bloodstains at murder scenes.
• 1967 - Brian J Culliford also invented gel-based methods to test for isoenzymes in dried blood for Scotland Yard.
• 1974 - Aerospace Corporation (a branch from NASA) develop electron microscopy with election dispersive x-ray technology to improve detection of gunshot residue.
• 1977 - FBI introduces the first national fingerprint database, known as AFIS. The rest of the world follow the example.
• 1977 - Fuseo Matsummur and Masato Soba develop latent fingerprint collection by using a specialist fuming superglue.
• 1978 - An electrostatic document analysis device is invented for obtaining impressions on paper and similar materials.
• 1980 - A multinational group of scientists discover a region of human DNA that does not hold any genetic information and is very variable between people.
• 1984 - British Sir Alec Jeffreys discovers a method of identifying criminals from DNA. DNA is now considered undeniable forensic evidence and lead to the increase in the number of convictions. He is the founding father of forensic DNA.
• 1985 - Just a year after its discovery, all of the UK police now use forensic DNA profiling.
• 1986 - The first time DNA is used to catch a criminal. Paedophile Colin Pitchfork raped and murdered two girls in England. DNA left on his victims lead to his arrest.
• 1987 - More and more cases are being solved with DNA evidence. Including hundreds of past unsolved cases. DNA evidence is deemed far more valuable than fingerprint evidence in the UK and Europe.
• 1987 - The USA use DNA to catch a criminal for the first time, despite first being sceptical of the accuracy of DNA testing. USA admit they were wrong to be sceptical and, like the rest of the world, began to value DNA evidence more than fingerprints.
• 1991 - First ever ballistics database developed in Canada, followed by the rest of the world, used to store identification marks on bullets and in gun barrels so they can be linked to other crimes. Led to the solving of many past unsolved cases.
• 1995 - The world's first DNA database is developed in the UK. Detecting crime, tracing criminals, solving crimes and closing unsolved cases just got even easier.
• 1998 - FBI follow the UK's footsteps and test the USA's first DNA database.
• 2002 - Amidst all the advances in forensics, the UK's most famous murder mystery case, Jack The Ripper, was reopened.
• 2007 - UK forensics services launched another database used for identifying clothing coding and footwear thread records. The USA followed a few months later. Due to the failings of the Portuguese police, Scotland Yard dispatched detectives and scientists to Portugal to thoroughly and properly investigate the kidnapping of British child Madeline McCann.