The History of Fingerprint

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Have you wondered how the Use of Fingerprint Started? 

Meaning of Fingerprint

A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Fingerprints are easily deposited on suitable surfaces (such as glass or metal or polished stone) by the natural secretions of sweat from the eccrine glands that are present in epidermal ridges. These are sometimes referred to as "Chanced Impressions".
In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human or other primatehand. A print from the sole of the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges.
Deliberate impressions of fingerprints may be formed by ink or other substances transferred from the peaks of friction ridges on the skin to a relatively smooth surface such as a fingerprint card. Fingerprint records normally contain impressions from the pad on the last joint of fingers and thumbs, although fingerprint cards also typically record portions of lower joint areas of the fingers.
Human fingerprints are detailed, nearly unique, difficult to alter, and durable over the life of an individual, making them suitable as long-term markers of human identity. They may be employed by police or other authorities to identify individuals who wish to conceal their identity, or to identify people who are incapacitated or deceased and thus unable to identify themselves, as in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Fingerprint analysis, in use since the early 20th century, has led to many crimes being solved. This means that many criminals consider gloves essential. In 2015, the identification of sex by use of a fingerprint test has been reported.


1858 - Sir William Herschel, British Administrator in District in India, requires fingerprint and signatures on civil contracts
1880 - Dr. Henry Faulds, a Scottish doctor in Tokyo, Japan publishes article in “Nature
1882 - Alphonse Bertillion, a French anthropologist, devised method of body measurements to produce a formula used to classify individuals. This formula involves taking the measurements of a persons body parts, and recording these measurements on a card. This method of classifying and identifying people became known as the Bertillion System.

HISTORY PROPER

Fingerprints have been used as a means of positively identifying people for many years. Here's is a brief history



1891 - Juan Vucetich, Argentine Police Official, Initiated the fingerprinting of criminals, (First case used was the Rojas Homicide in 1892, in which the print of a woman who murdered her two sons and cut her own throat in an attempt to place the blame on another person was found on a door post)

1892 - Sir Francis Galton, a British Anthropologist and cousin to Charles Darwin, publishes the first book on fingerprints. In his book, Galton identifies the individuality and uniqueness of fingerprints. The unique characteristics of fingerprints, as identified by Galton, will officially become known as minutiae, however they are sometimes still referred to as Galton’s Details.

1896 - International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Establish National Bureau of Criminal Identification, for the exchange of arrest information

1901 - Sir Edward Henry, an Inspector General of Police in Bengal, India, develops the first system of classifying fingerprints. This system of classifying fingerprints. This system of classifying fingerprints was first adopted as the official 
system in England, and eventually spread throughout


1903 – The William West – Will West Case at a Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, changed the way that people were classified and identified when a man named Will West entered the Leavenworth Prison inmates. His face was photographed, and his Bertillion measurements were taken. Upon completion of this process, it was noted that another inmate, known as William West, who was already incarcerated at Leavenworth, had the same name, 
Bertillion measurements, and bore a striking resemblance to Will West.The incident called the reliability of Bertillion measurements into question, and it was decided that a more positive means of identification was necessary. As the Bertillion System began to decline, the use of fingerprints in identifying and classifying individuals began to rise. After 1903, many prison systems began to use fingerprints as the primary means of identification.

1905 – U.S. Military adopts the use of fingerprints – soon thereafter, police agencies began to adopt the use of fingerprints


1908 – The first official fingerprint card was developed   



1911 - Fingerprints are first accepted by U.S. courts as a reliable means of Identification. Dec. 21, 1911, The Illinois State Supreme Court upheld the admissibility of fingerprint evidence concluding that fingerprints are a reliable form of identification.


  • Thomas Jennings was the first person to be convicted of murder in the United States based on fingerprint evidence. Jennings appealed his conviction to the Illinois Supreme Court on the basis of a questionable new scientific technique. The Illinois Supreme Court cited the historical research and use of fingerprints as a means of reliable identification in upholding the conviction, and thus establishing the use of fingerprints as a reliable means of identification.
  • Jennings was executed in 1912.

1917 - First Palm print identification is made in Nevada. The bloody palm print, found on a letter left at the scene of a 
stage coach robbery and murder of its driver, was identified to Ben Kuhl. (State v. Kuhl 42 Nev. 195 175 PAC 190 (1918)

1924 – Formation of ID Division of FBI

1980 – First computer data base of fingerprints was developed, which came to be known as the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, (AFIS).  In the present day, there nearly 70 million cards, or nearly 700 million individual fingerprints entered in AFIS

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