Paza, Luke Rogel C.

BS-Crim 2B

Fingerprint History

Fingerprints have been used as a means of positively identifying people for many years.
Here is a brief history of the science of fingerprints:

DATE EVENTS

1000 BC Fingerprints are used

Throughout history, fingerprints were used on official documents. They were used
like a signature in places like ancient Babylon, China, Nova Scotia, and Persia.

1686 Fingerprint patterns are noticed

A professor at the University of Bologna, in Italy, named Macello Malpighi

noticed that fingerprints had common patterns. Loops, whorls, arches, and ridges
seemed to make up most fingerprints.

1823
Nine patterns documented

A different professor named Johannes Evangelista Purkinje documented nine

specific patterns to help identify types of fingerprints. Even with his discovery, the
use of fingerprints did not catch on quite yet.

1858 No two are the same

A magistrate in India named William Herschel began using fingerprinting as a

way to make natives "sign" a contract. After several contracts, he began noticing
that no two fingerprints were the same; and fingerprints could be used for
identification purposes.

1880
Fingerprints are used to identify someone

A doctor in Tokyo became very interested in fingerprinting. Dr. Henry Faulds

used fingerprints to identify who had left a stray bottle lying around—he matched
fingerprints left on the bottle with a laboratory worker.
1892 Fingerprints used to solve a crime

Using a bloody fingerprint left on a doorframe, police in Argentina were able to

identify a murderer. During the same year, certain police groups started keeping
fingerprint files.

1896 Fingerprints around the world

The use of fingerprints was slow to catch on from country to country. After
Argentina, British India took up the practice.

1901 England jumps on board

After the success in Argentina and India, Scotland Yard began questioning
whether it would be a useful system for England. The Scotland Yard Fingerprint
Bureau was founded.

1902 Success in Paris

Paris police began keeping fingerprints of criminals on file. After a murder was
committed, police found a fingerprint at the scene and compared it against their
files; they were able to identify the killer.

1903 America begins using fingerprints

The New York Police Department, and others across the state, began using
fingerprints as a way to identify people. Over the next few years, the practice
slowly spread westward.

1905 American military branches

Over time, the Army, Navy, and Marines began using fingerprinting. The National
Bureau of Criminal Investigation also began keeping track of the fingerprints on
file.

1924 Fingerprints move to FBI territory

The Federal Bureau of Investigation took over the cataloging of fingerprints in

America. By 1971 they had over 200 million fingerprints on file.

1990 Computerized fingerprinting

With the advancement in technology, programs began using Automated

Fingerprint Identification Systems. The AFIS's scanned and stored fingerprints
electronically.
1996 Fingerprinting children

Law enforcement groups saw the need to fingerprint children as a means of

identifying kids who became lost, or went missing. Christ Migliaro founded
Fingerprint America for this purpose.

1999 FBI moves to electronic fingerprinting

Through a long process, the FBI began transferring their fingerprint file to an
electronic system. Millions of criminal fingerprints are now stored across the
globe.