Fingerprint Timeline

By jamesk
  • 200 BCE

    Qin Dynasty

    During the Qin Dynasty fingerprints were used as evidence for investigations. Fingerprints were recorded using clay.

  • Marcello Malpighi

    Marcello Malpighi was the first person to take note of ridges, spirals, and loops in fingerprints.

  • Henry Faulds

    In 1880 Henry Faulds was able to figure who had left fingerprints on a bottle.

  • Rojas Homicide Case

    One of the first ever criminal cases that used fingerprints to identify a criminal.

  • Francis Galton Finger prints

    In 1892 the first book written about fingerprints called "Finger Prints" was published by Sir Francis Galton.

  • Scotland Yard Fingerprint Bureau

    The Metropolitan Police in London, or Scotland Yard, started its first fingerprint bureau in July 1901.

  • Brayley's Arrangement of Finger Prints Identification and Their Uses

    One of the first textbooks on fingerprints was published by Frederic A. Brayley in 1910.

  • Edmond Locard

    In 1918 Locard wrote that if two fingerprints have 12 matching points they can be identified as belonging to the same person.

  • FBI

    By 1946 the FBI had processed roughly one hundred million fingerprint cards, and 200 million by 1971.

  • FBI Electronic Fingerprints

    In 1999, the FBI began storing fingerprint files electronically.