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All throughout history, fingerprints were used on official documents. They were used like a signature in places like ancient Babylon, China, Nova Scotia, and Persia. -
A professor at the University of Bologna, in Italy, named Marcello Malpighi noticed that fingerprints had common patterns. Loops, whorls, arches, and ridges seemed to make up most fingerprints. -
Sir Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, discovered and studied fingerprints to seek out hereditary traits. -
Using a bloody fingerprint left on a door-frame, police in Argentina were able to identify a murderer. This was the first criminal found guilty using fingerprints. -
After Argentina and India began using fingerprinting, Scotland Yard began questioning whether it would be a useful system for England. The Scotland Yard Fingerprint Bureau was founded. -
The New York Police Department, and others across the state, began using fingerprints as a way to identify people. Over the next few years, the practice slowly spread westward. -
Over time, the Army, Navy, and Marines began using fingerprinting. -
With the advancement in technology, programs began using Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems. The AFIS's scanned and stored fingerprints electronically. -
Law enforcement groups saw the need to fingerprint children as a means of identifying kids who became lost, or went missing. Christ Migliaro founded Fingerprint America for this purpose. -
Through a long process, the FBI began transferring their fingerprint file to an electronic system.