french method: "portrait parle" by alphonse bertillon, photos and body measurements, since ~1888, photographie judiciaire. already there: iris scan, the ear ... yet, germans don't need to show their ear any longer for their pass ...

the english way: fingerprints brought to you by henry faulds, william james herschel, and sir francis galton [charles darwin's cousin], encyclopedia says, but also bertillon was doing it and it has been in use early on in china some pioneers.

1903, the case of will west

two different persons having the same bertillon measurements which strengthened the case in favor of the science of fingerprints | biometrics person authentication

1984: dna profiling

... first DNA "fingerprinting" technique, discovered by Dr. Alec Jeffries of the Lister Institute of Leicester University, England.| interactive investigators

who do we think we are, guardian