You are unique. Another person may have a nose like yours, someone else may have the same eyes, but they do not belong to the same person.
There is only one of you on this planet. But how can you prove it? There is something simple you can do to show that there is no one else exactly like you anywhere. Get an ink pad, press a fingertip on to the surface, roll your inky finger on to a piece of paper and you will have proof that there is only one you. This is your fingerprint and yours alone.
Fingerprints are made up of arches, loops and whorls in intricate patterns. Centuries ago, the ancient Chinese discovered that no two fingerprints were the same, so a person's fingerprints were used to legalise documents.
In the 1890s, Edward Henry, a British police official in India, began using fingerprints to identify criminals.
When he returned to Britain, Henry persuaded the London police force to use fingerprints to track down lawbreakers. In 1901, Henry set up the Central Fingerprinting Bureau. The use of fingerprinting for identifying criminals was a great success and it spread rapidly throughout Europe and North America.
When a finger touches a hard surface, oil from the skin leaves an invisible print behind, but when the area is dusted with special powder, it becomes visible and can be reproduced. By comparing fingerprints found at the scene of a crime with fingerprint records, experts may prove that a person was there when the crime was committed.