History of Fingerprinting

By jellycastelli
  • 1792 BCE

    Fingerprints in clay

    Fingerprints in clay
    Archaeologists find fingerprint pressed into clay tablets

  • First Study of Hand

    First Study of Hand
    In Wester studies the first study of hands was done in 1684 by Dr. Nehemiah.

  • Sir Francis Galton Developed Classification System for Fingerprint

    Sir Francis Galton Developed Classification System for Fingerprint
    Galton, along with Sir E. R. Henry developed classification system for fingerprints that is still used in the United States and Europe.

  • Sir Edmund Richard Henry Created a System for Dividing Fingerprint Record

    Sir Edmund Richard Henry Created a System for Dividing Fingerprint Record
    Sir Edmund Richard Henry created a system to divide fingerprints records based on whether they had an arch, loop, or whorl.

  • Solving First Murder with Fingerprints

    Solving First Murder with Fingerprints
    Alphonse Bertillon solved the first murder using finger prints.

  • Sir Francis Galton Discovered Fingerprints Do Not Change with Age

    Sir Francis Galton Discovered Fingerprints Do Not Change with Age
    Sir Galton discovered that fingerprints stay the same your entire life and do not change with age.

  • John Dillinger Tried To Disguise His Fingerprints

    John Dillinger Tried To Disguise His Fingerprints
    After fingerprints were shown as good ID marks, John Dillinger tried to disguise his own by using acid to burn them off. But he did not know they grow back.

  • AFIS Creation

    AFIS Creation
    Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) was created in the 1980s to help track criminals.

  • 23 Million Fingerprints on File

    23 Million Fingerprints on File
    By 1987, the FBI had more than 23 million fingerprints stored, and finding a new one required manual searching.

  • 156 Fingerprint Test

    156 Fingerprint Test
    One in Five examiners made at least false-positive identification.