Fingerprints

By Dj Leonard
  • 1000 BCE

    First Usage of Fingerprints

    Signatures initially started with fingerprints. Fingerprints were used on official documents in places like China and Persia.

  • Fingerprint Patterns

    Macello Malpighi, a professor at the University of Bologna in Italy, noticed that fingerprints had distinct patterns

  • Fingerprints Aren't the Same

    William Herschel, from India, used fingerprints for natives to sign contracts. After a few were signed, he noticed that none of the fingerprints were the same and could be used for identification.

  • First Identification

    Dr. Henry Faulds, a doctor in Tokyo, used fingerprints left on a bottle to match with one of the laboratory workers.

  • First Crime Solved

    After finding a bloody fingerprint left on a door frame in Argentina, police were able to identify the murder. They would start keeping records of fingerprints.

  • America Uses Fingerprints

    Police departments across the state New York, including the NYPD, started using fingerprints to identify people. This would spread across the country.

  • American Military Branches

    The Army, Navy, Marines, and the National Bureau of Crime Investigation started keeping records of fingerprints.

  • The FBI

    The FBI would also start keeping track of fingerprints, eventually getting over 200 million fingerprints on file.

  • Computerized Fingerprints

    As technology advanced, a system called Automatic Fingerprint Identification Systems developed.

  • FBI Electronic Fingerprints

    The FBI would switch over to electronic fingerprints and transferred all of their fingerprint files to an electronic system.