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200 BCE
Ancient Fingerprints Found
"Chinese records from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) include details about using handprints as evidence during burglary investigations." -
Nine Fingerprint Discovery
“In 1823, Jan Evangelista Purkinje, anatomy professor at the University of Breslau, published his thesis discussing nine fingerprint patterns." -
The idea was born
“By the mid-1800s, with the rapid growth of cities due to the industrial revolution and more productive farming, there was a formally recognized need to identify people. Merchants and authorities were faced with increasingly larger and more mobile populations and could no longer rely solely on their own experiences and local knowledge.” -
Dr. Faulds Recognized Fingerprint Classification
"Dr. Henry Fauld recognized the importance of fingerprints as a means of identification, but devised a method of classification as well." -
Alphonse Bertillon Introduces Fingerprints as Special Marks
“In 1888 Bertillon was made Chief of the newly created Department of Judicial Identity where he used anthropometry as the primary means of identification. He later introduced Fingerprints, but relegated them to a secondary role in the category of special marks.” -
The idea was developed
“...a method was developed to index fingerprints that provided the ability to retrieve records." -
Eduardo Alvarez
"At Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1892, Inspector Eduardo Alvarez made the first criminal fingerprint identification. He was able to identify Francisca Rojas, a woman who murdered her two sons and cut her own throat in an attempt to place blame on another. Her bloody print was left on a door post, proving her identity as the murderer. Alvarez was trained by Juan Vucetich."
