-
Jan 1, 1350
Persia uses fingerprints on official documents
-
Marcello Malpighi notes the common characteristics of spirals, loops and ridges in fingerprints
He was the first to document the different types of fingerprints. -
Johannes Evengelista Purkinje writes a thesis
He describes nine different types of fingerprint patterns. -
Dr. Henry Faulds
He was a British surgeon and he described the fingerprints of people as a unique identifier of that person and the way to retrieve fingerprints was to use printer ink. -
Gilbert Thompson
He was employed by the U.S. Geological Survey in New Mexico, and he used his own fingerprints on a document to guard against forgery. This event is the first known use of fingerprints for identification in America. -
Sir Francis Galton
Began studying fingerprints to try to find a tool to determine genetic history. -
The book Fingerprints was published by Sir Francis Galton
He was the first one to publish a book over the different types of fingerprint patterns which include whorls, loops and arches. -
Sir Edward Richard Henry
Henry developed a system of his own, which included 1,024 primary classifications. -
Period: to
History of Fingerprinting
-
Alphonse Bertillon
He was responsible for the first criminal identification of a fingerprint without a known suspect. -
Fingerprinting technology comes into widespread use in the United States, as the New York Police Department, the New York State Prison system and the Federal Bureau of Prisons begin working with the new science.
This is the first time government uses fingerprints in the jobs of forensic science more frequently. -
The St. Louis Police Department and the Leavenworth State Penitentiary in Kansas
These places begin to start utilizing fingerprinting. -
The U.S. Army begins using fingerprinting
Within three years, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps also started focusing on using fingerprints to identify enemies. -
The first central storage location for fingerprints in North America
It is established in Ottawa by Edward Foster of the Dominion Police Force. It had 2000 fingerprints stored and now has over 2 million. -
The U.S. Congress acts to establish the Identification Division of the F.B.I. The National Bureau
By 1946, the F.B.I. had processed 100 million fingerprint cards; that number doubles by 1971. -
AFIS
Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems began to anaylze fingerprints using computers to cross reference fingerprints. -
Chris Migliaro
He creates Fingerprint America in Albany, NY. The company provides an at-home fingerprinting and identification kit for parents, maintaining the family’s privacy while protecting and educating children about the dangers of abduction. By 2001, the company distributes over 5 million Child ID Fingerprinting Kits around the world. -
2000 BC
Babylonians use fingerprints to complete transactions. -
1st Century A.D.
A petroglyph located on a cliff face in Nova Scotia depicts a hand with exaggerated ridges and finger whorls, presumably left by the Mi'kmaq people. -
3rd Century BC
Chinese use fingerprints to sign documents. -
