history of fingerprinting

By hollyp26
  • 1750 BCE

    Archeologist

    Archeologist
    They found fingerprints in clay tablets
  • 200 BCE

    China

    China
    Handprints were used as evidence during burglary investigations during the Qin Dynasty. This was done using clay seals bearing friction ridge impressions.

  • Dr. Nehemiah Grew.

    Dr. Nehemiah Grew.
    Friction ridge skin observations were first published in "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London" by Dr. Nehemiah Grew. Also done in "Anatomy of the Human Body" by Govard Bidloo. In Marcello Malpighi's treatise, fingerprint ridges, spirals and loops are mentioned

  • J. C. A. Mayer

    J. C. A. Mayer
    German anatomist and doctor J. C. A. Mayer wrote the book Anatomical Copper-plates with Appropriate Explanations containing drawings of friction ridge skin patterns. Mayer was the first to declare that friction ridge skin is unique.

  • Sir William James Herschel

    Sir William James Herschel
    Sir William James Herschel used fingerprints on native contracts. Thus, the first wide-scale, modern-day use of fingerprints was predicated, not upon scientific evidence, but upon superstitious beliefs. Sir William Herschel's private conviction that all fingerprints were unique to the individual, as well as permanent throughout that individual's life, inspired him to expand their use.