Major Developments
in Forensic Science History
§700s AD—Chinese used fingerprints to establish identity of documents and clay sculptures
§~1000—Roman courts determined that bloody palm prints were used to frame a man in his brother’s murder
§1149—King Richard of England introduced the idea of the coroner to investigate questionable death
§1200s—A murder in China is solved when flies were attracted to invisible blood residue on a sword of a man in the community
§1598—Fidelus was first to practice forensic medicine in Italy
§1670—Anton Van Leeuwenhoek constructed the first high-powered microscope
§1776—Paul Revere identified the body of General Joseph Warren based on the false teeth he had made for him
§1784—John Toms convicted of murder on basis of torn edge of wad of paper in pistol matching a piece of paper in his pocket