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1792 BCE
Ancient fingerprints
Archaeologists discovered fingerprints pressed into clay tablet contracts in Babylon. -
Dr. Nehemiah
wrote a paper describing the patterns that he saw on human hands under the microscope, including the presence of ridges. -
Johann Christoph Andreas Mayer
Described that "the arrangement of the skin ridges is never duplicated in two persons." -
Jan Evangelist Purkyn
Described nine distinct fingerprint patterns, including loops, spirals, circles, and double whorls. -
Sir William Herschel
Began the collecting of fingerprints. He notes the patterns were unique to each person and were not altered by age. -
Alphonse Bertillon
An assistant clerk in the records office at the Police Station in Paris created a way to identify criminals. The system, sometimes called Bertillonage, was the first to be used in 1883 to identify a repeating offender. -
Sir Francis Galton
Along with Sir E. R. Henry, they developed the classification system for fingerprints that is still in use today in the United States and Europe. -
Ivan (Juan) Vucetich
He improved the fingerprint collection process. He began to note the measurements on the identification cards of all arrested persons, as well as adding all 10 fingerprint impressions. He devised his own fingerprint classification system and invented a better way of collecting impressions. -
Sir Edmund Richard Henry
Created a system that divided fingerprint records into groups based on whether they have an arch, whorl, or loop pattern. -
Alphonse Bertillon
He was also credited with solving the first murder using fingerprints