History of Fingerprinting

By julia3487
  • 2000 BCE

    Ancient fingerprinting

    There is evidence of fingerprints being found during the building of the pyramids in Egypt in 2000 B.C. Then in 3rd century B.C. the Chinese used fingerprinting as a testament on official documents and in court litigation proceedings.

  • William J. Hershel

    William J. Hershel was an English administrator assigned to the jurisdiction in India, and was the first person to implement the practical application of fingerprinting. He was concerned about getting people their pensions and avoiding fraud and did this by using fingerprints on the citizens. He used prints of both palms and fingers. Also used fingerprinting for all contacts and on inmates. In later years he began to note that inked impressions could, indeed, prove or disprove identity

  • Alphonse Bertillon

    Bertillon was an assistant clerk in the records office at the police station in Paris. He created a way to identify criminals (not by fingerprinting mean), this system is called Bertillonage. It was first used to identify a offender in 1883.

  • Henry Faulds

    Fauld in his effort to take the "father of fingerprinting" type away from Hershel, concluded that fingerprint patterns were unchangeable. Also concluded that rendering a set of fingerprints was best done with printer's ink on a smooth board. He also received the first identification of a fingerprint by being able to lift a fingerprint from a bottle of whiskey.

  • Sir Edward Henry

    Sir Edward Henry is best remembered for introducing fingerprints into criminal investigations. He also developed his own system of identifying fingerprints. Henry created 1,024 primary fingerprint classifications.This system was spread throughout and is still used today.

  • Ivan Vucetich

    Vucetich improved fingerprinting collection in 1891. He began to note the measurements on the identification cards and added 10 fingerprint impressions. He along with the others devised his own fingerprint classification system but also invented a better way of collecting the impressions.

  • Sir Francis Galton

    Galton was an anthropologist and cousin to Charles Darwin. He published the first book on fingerprints, in the book he identified the individuality and uniqueness of fingerprints. He collected hundreds of fingerprint samples, using this to create a taxonomic classification system. Using this he classified the three most common fingerprint types: loop, whorl, and arch. This system is still used today.

  • The William West – Will West Case

    Two inmates at the Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas,William West and Will West were photographed and the Bertillion measurements were taken. It was noticed that these inmates had the same name,Bertillion measurements, and bore a striking resemblance. This called the Bertillon measurements into question. As the Bertillon system began to decline, the use of fingerprinting began to rise.

  • Fingerprints as evidence in court

    The U.S. courts accept fingerprints as a reliable means of identification. The first person to be convicted of murder based on fingerprint evidence is Thomas Jennings. Jennings questioned thsi new scientific technique, however the Illinois Supreme Court cited the historical research and use of fingerprints as reliable identification in upholding the conviction. Jennings was executed in 1912

  • AFIS

    AFIS stands for Automated Fingerprint Identification System and is used to quickly sort through the unlikely fingerprint matches to solve criminal cases.Then the system provides most likely matches in the shortest amount of time possible. This system is still used today.