History of Finger Prints

Picture writing of a hand with ridge patterns was discovered in Nova Scotia. In ancient Babylon, fingerprints were used on clay tablets for business transactions. In ancient China, thumb prints were found on clay seals.

July of 1858, when Sir William James Herschel, Chief Magistrate

of the Hooghly district in Jungipoor, India, first used fingerprints

on native contracts. On a whim, and without thought toward

personal identification, Herschel had Rajyadhar Konai, a local

businessman, impress his hand print on a contract.

In 1882, Gilbert Thompson of the U.S. Geological Survey in

New Mexico, used his own thumb print on a document to

prevent forgery. This is the first known use of fingerprints in

the United States.

Juan Vucetich, an Argentine Police Official, began the first

fingerprint files based on Galton pattern types. At first,

Vucetich included the Bertillon System with the files.

Juan Vucetich made the first criminal fingerprint

identification in 1892. He was able to identify Francis 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.

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