History of Fingerprinting

Dr. Nehemiah

1684

wrote a paper describing the patterns that he saw on the human hand under the microscope.

Jan Evangelist Purkyn

1823

described nine distinct fingerprint patters, including loops, spirals, circles, and double whorls.

Sir William Herschel

1856

He noted the patterns were unique to each person and were not altered by age.

Alphonse Bertillon

1883

created a way to identify criminals

Sir Francis Galton and Sir E R Henry

1888

verified that fingerprints do not change with age and developed the classification system for fingerprints that are still in use today in the US and Europe.

Ivan Vucetich

1891

improved the fingerprint collection/ He divided his own fingerprint classification system and invented a better way of collecting the impressions.

Sir Edmund Richard Henry and two collogues

1896

created a system that divided fingerprint records into groups based on whether they have an arch, work, or loop pattern. 10 card system