The first instance of people using fingerprints as personal identification dates as far back as ancient Babylonia, over 3,800 years ago, where their marks served as signatures on clay tables used to keep business transactions. In 1880 Henry Faulds published a paper arguing on the uniqueness and permanence of fingerprints. He proposed a classification system consisting of five patterns: arches, loops, whorls, and two less common formations – composite and accidentals. The basis of Faulds's system proved so successful that it remains a major part of fingerprints identification still to this day. In September 1896 Sir Edward Richard Henry was made Assistant Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, by this time Scotland Yard were receiving numerous inquiries to compare and check fingerprints against those known criminals and from 1 July 1901 The Fingerprint Section at Scotland Yard became a fully operational department.