Inventor Hall of Fame Reading

Gallery of Icons

The museum’s key attraction is the inspiring Gallery of Icons™. Here, you’ll find icons commemorating each of the more than 500 National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) Inductees we’ve welcomed since our founding in 1973. Hung in a tessellating hexagon pattern inspired by honeycombs and organized by patent number, this is a stunning visual representation of the history of American innovation.

Familiar names include the prolific Thomas Edison, who filed more than 1,000 patents, including the electric light bulb; the high-flying Wright Brothers, who successfully piloted the first powered aircraft; the brilliant Stephanie Kwolek, who invented the life-saving Kevlar fiber worn by police officers and military personnel across the world; and George Washington Carver, who famously developed crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil and discovered hundreds of new uses for crops such as the peanut and sweet potato.