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1000 BCE
Fingerprints began to be used as signatures
Fingerprints were pressed in clay or wax(later on) and used as a signature on official documents in places such as ancient Babylon, China, Nova Scotia, and Persia. -
Discovers and Observations on Fingerprints began to be made. Even with these discoveries the use of fingerprints didn't catch on yet.
In 1686, Macello Malpighi noticed that fingerprints had common patters. Loops, whorls, arches, and ridges seemed to make up most fingerprints.
In 1823, Johannes Evengelista Purkinje documented nine specific patterns to help identify types of fingerprints.
In 1858, 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. -
Fingerprints used to identify someone
Dr. Henry Faulds used fingerprints in Tokyo to identify who had left a stray bottle lying around. The doctor was able to match the fingerprints left on the bottle with a laboratory worker. -
FIngerprints used to Solve Crimes
The police in Argentina used a bloody fingerprint left on a door frame, to identify a murderer. During the same year, certain police groups started keeping fingerprint files. After this discover, fingerprinting began to be used worldwide. -
Scotland Yard Fingerprinting Bureau founded
After the success in Argentina and India, Scotland Yard began questioning whether it would be a useful system for England. England then began to catch on with fingerprinting -
Fingerprinting began to be used in military
The Army, Navy, and Marines began using fingerprinting. The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation also began keeping track of the fingerprints on file. -
FBI takes over cataloging of Finger Printing
Fingerprinting was moved into the territory of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1971 they had over 200 million fingerprints on file. -
Fingerprinting began to be computerized
There were many technological advancements. With these advancements, programs began using Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems. With the AFIS, fingerprints were scanned and stored electronically. -
Fingerprint America
Christ Migliaro founded Fingerprint America so that Law enforcement groups could fingerprint children as a way to identify lost or missing kids. -
Electronic Fingerprinting
The FBI began transferring their fingerprint file to an electronic system. Millions of criminal fingerprints are now stored across the globe.
