Forensic Laboratories history

In 1836, Scottish chemist, James Marsh, did the first application of this forensic science technique.

In 1892, Sir Francis Galton popularized a method for classifying fingerprints, one that is still used today.

It had been introduced to United States law enforcement officials by Scotland Yard officials at the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis.

He passed the bar in 1907 and went on to study alongside anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon, famous for his anthropometric system of identifying criminals.

In 1911, prosecutors for the state of Illinois won a murder conviction against Thomas Jennings.

It wasn’t until 1912 that Locard and the lab broke a major case.

In 1929, Locard and numerous other criminalists founded the International Academy of Criminalistics in Switzerland.

In 1931, Lee also used her own money to help start Harvard University’s Department of Legal Medicine—the first of its kind in the country—and she eventually went on to found the Harvard Associates in Police Science, a national organization dedicated to furthering the field of forensic science.

The invention of the first interference contrast microscope by Dutch physicist Frits Zernike in 1935

Edmond Locard died in 1966, however his exchange principle has been a greatly influential piece of work in forensic science, and is frequently quoted to this day.

Doctor Armstrong’s first court appearance in 1976 was related to a fire on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) consuming a SMU ballroom.

In 1977, Doctor Armstrong was awarded the White Helmet Award from the City of Arlington Fire Department, the Highest Civilian Award presented by the City.

The decision to leave the contract consulting venture in 1978 and break-out into the analytical laboratory industry was never a difficult decision for the Founders.

Armstrong Forensic Laboratory, Inc. (Armstrong) was born in 1981 as the company incorporated as a C-Corporation in the State of Texas.

In 1984, Sir Alec Jeffreys, a British geneticist, stumbled across the realization that DNA showed both similarities and differences between family members, making it perhaps the most accurate form of identification ever discovered.

In 1985, Armstrong understood and anticipated the needs and growth of the Environmental community as well as Health and Safety Professionals.

And, similar to that first case in 1986, it’s proven to be as powerful a tool for determining innocence as finding guilt.

1990'sContinuing to growWith Kay Armstrong as the President, and primary shareholder, the company was recognized as a Woman/Minority-Owned Business.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime launched the International Quality Assurance Programme in 1995 to improve and standardize the work of drug testing in crime labs around the world.

Even fingerprinting now has its critics, particularly after the false match of a partial print led to the wrongful arrest of Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield for the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, Spain.

After years of providing Expert Witness Testimony on a variety of case work, Armstrong sought out to become an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory in 2007.

In a landmark 2009 New Yorker investigation, investigative journalist David Grann delved into the peculiar professional culture of arson investigators.