History of Fingerprinting

Dr. Nehemiah

1684

Wrote a description describing the patterns he saw on human hands under the microscope including the presence of ridges

Johann Christophe Andreas Mayer

1788

Described that the arrangements of skin ridges is never duplicated in two persons

Jan Evangelist Purkyn

1823

Described mine distinct fingerprint patterns including loops, spirals, circles, and double whirls

Sir William Herschel

1856

Notes that the patterns were unique to each person and were not altered by age

Alphonse Bertillon

1879

Created a way to identify criminals, the system sometimes called it Bertillonage - created with solving the first murder using fingerprints

Sir Francis Galton

1888

Verified that fingerprints don’t change with age. With Sir E R Henry they developed the classification system for fingerprints that is still in use today.

Ivan Vucetich

1891

Improved fingerprints collection. Notes measurements on the identification cards of all arrested persons, as well as adding all 10 fingerprints. Made his own fingerprint system and invented a better way of collecting the prints.

Sir Edmund Richard Henry

1896

Created a system that divided fingerprint records into groups based on whether they have and arch, whorl, or loop pattern. Created the ten card

Frederick Brayley

1910

In 1910, Frederick Brayley published the first American textbook on fingerprints, "Arrangement of Finger Prints, Identification, and Their Uses."

Edmond Locard

1918

Edmond Locard wrote that if 12 points (Galton's Details) were the same between two fingerprints, it would suffice as a positive identification.