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Fingerprints Pressed Into Clay
Archaeologists discovered fingerprints pressed into clay table contracts dating back to 1792 - 1750 B.C. in Babylon. -
Different Fingerprint Patterns
In 1823, Jan Evangelist Purkyn described nine distinct fingerprint patterns, including loops, spirals, circles, & double whorls. -
Creating A Way To Identify Criminals
In 1879, an assistant clerk by the name of Alphonse Bertillon, created a way to identify criminals. The system, sometimes called Bertillonage, was first used in 1883 to identify a repeating offender. -
Classification System For Fingerprinting
In 1888, Galton & Sir E. R Henry, developed the classification system for fingerprints that is still in use to this day in the United States & Europe. -
Dividing Fingerprints Into Categories
In the beginning of 1896, Sir Edmund Richard Henry & 2 other colleagues, created a system that divided fingerprint records into groups based on whether they have an arch, whorl, or loop pattern. -
Solving First Murder With Fingerprints
In 1902, Alphonse was credited with solving the first murder using fingerprints. -
John Herbert Dillinger Incident
In the 1930s, John Dillinger, put acid on his fingertips to change their appearance. -
Fingerprint Examiners Given A Test
In 1995, 156 fingerprint examiners were given a test, & only one in five examiners made at least one false - positive identification. -
Fingerprint Cards On File
By 1997, the FBI had 23 million criminal fingerprint cards on file, & getting a match with a fingerprint found at crime scene & one stored file required manual searching. -
IAFIS or AFIS
In 1999, with the cooperation of the national law enforcement community, the FBI developed the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.
