The+History+of+Fingerprinting

The History of Fingerprinting

The first acheaological evidence of fingerprints being used is in China and Babylonian civilisations, where the prints were used to sign legal documents.

__ 1880's __
 * William Herschel (an administration officer for the police in Bengal) used thumb impressions to help identify his staff
 * Dr. Henry Faulds published a letter to the journal "Nature" suggesting that fingerprints be used for formal identification

__ 1890's __ __1900's __
 * Sir Francis Galton published a book (Finger Prints) that detailed a method of classifying fingerprints (he identified the three main types of fingerprints)
 * Sir Edward Henry (another police officer from India) published a modified version of fingerprint classification which was adopted by Scotland Yard in 1901 and is still the basis of the fingerprint identification system used in most English speaking countries (extended into the minutiae of fingerprints)
 * First official use of fingerprints in the U.S.A. by the New York City Civil Service Commission
 * National fingerprint file set in in the U.S.A. by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

__Interesting Fact__: Alfred and Albert Stratton were the first people convicted of a crime using fingerprint evidence in 1905.