Editing Thomas Edison (section)

==Awards==
[[File:Abraham Archibald Anderson - Thomas Alva Edison - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Edison by [[Abraham Archibald Anderson]] (1890), [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]]]]The following is an incomplete list of awards given to Edison during his lifetime and posthumously:

* In 1878, Edison was awarded an honorary PhD from [[Union College]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4o9AQAAIAAJ|title=Scientific American|date=July 13, 1878|publisher=Munn & Company|pages=21|language=en|access-date=June 7, 2021|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185502/https://books.google.com/books?id=p4o9AQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The [[President of France|President]] of the [[French Third Republic|Third French Republic]], [[Jules Grévy]], on the recommendation of his [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]], [[Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire]], and with the presentations of the [[Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones (France)|Minister of Posts and Telegraphs]], [[Louis Adolphe Cochery|Louis Cochery]], designated Edison with the [[Légion d'honneur#The Order and other countries|''distinction'']] of an [[Legion of Honour|Officer of the Legion of Honour]] ([[Légion d'honneur]]) by decree on November 10, 1881;<ref>The same decree awarded German physicist [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] with the designation of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, as well as [[Alexander Graham Bell]]. The decree preamble cited ''"for services provided to the Congress and to the International Electrical Exhibition"''</ref> Edison was also named a Chevalier in the Legion in 1879, and a Commander in 1889.<ref name="BIO" />
* In 1887, Edison won the [[Matteucci Medal]]. In 1890, he was elected a member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].
* In 1927, he was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Thomas+Edison&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=March 7, 2024 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
* The [[Philadelphia City Council]] named Edison the recipient of the [[John Scott Medal]] in 1889.<ref name="BIO" />
* In 1899, Edison was awarded the [[Edward Longstreth Medal]] of [[The Franklin Institute]].<ref name="LongstrethMedal_Laureates">{{cite web |url=http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=LONG+&sy=1898&ey=1900&name=Submit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222041126/http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=LONG+&sy=1898&ey=1900&name=Submit |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |title=Franklin Laureate Database – Edward Longstreth Medal 1899 Laureates |publisher=[[Franklin Institute]] |access-date=November 18, 2011 }}</ref>
* He was named an Honorable Consulting Engineer at the [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition]] [[World's fair]] in 1904.<ref name="BIO" />
* In 1908, Edison received the American Association of Engineering Societies [[John Fritz Medal]].<ref name="BIO" />
* In 1915, Edison was awarded [[Franklin Medal]] of [[The Franklin Institute]] for discoveries contributing to the foundation of industries and the well-being of the human race.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/edison/reward.html |title=Thomas Alva Edison – Acknowledgement |publisher=The Franklin Institute |access-date=February 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107211052/http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/edison/reward.html |archive-date=January 7, 2013 }}</ref>
* In 1920, the [[United States Navy]] department awarded him the [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]].<ref name="BIO">{{cite book|last=Kennelly|first=Arthur E.|title=Biographical Memoir of Thomas Alva Edison|year=1932|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|pages=300–301|url=http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/tedison.pdf|access-date=April 2, 2012|archive-date=May 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512153140/http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/tedison.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 1923, the [[American Institute of Electrical Engineers]] created the Edison Medal and he was its first recipient.<ref name="BIO" />
* In 1927, he was granted membership in the [[National Academy of Sciences]].<ref name="BIO" />
* On May 29, 1928, Edison received the [[Congressional Gold Medal]].<ref name="BIO" />
* In 1983, the [[United States Congress]], pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97–198), designated February 11, Edison's birthday, as National [[Inventor's Day]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/11283i.htm |title=Proclamation 5013 – National Inventors' Day, 1983 |work=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library |access-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-date=April 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410080552/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/11283i.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine (USA), in a special double issue in 1997, placed Edison first in the list of the "100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years", noting that the [[light bulb]] he promoted "lit up the world". In the 2005 television series ''[[The Greatest American]]'', he was voted by viewers as the fifteenth greatest.
* In 2008, Edison was inducted in the [[New Jersey Hall of Fame]].
* In 2010, Edison was honored with a [[Technical Grammy Award]].
* In 2011, Edison was inducted into the [[Entrepreneur Walk of Fame]] and named a [[Great Floridian]] by the governor and cabinet of Florida.<ref>{{cite web|title=Great Floridian Program|url=http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/floridian/index.cfm|access-date=April 2, 2012|archive-date=April 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406063746/http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/floridian/index.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Commemorations and popular culture ===
{{Main|Thomas Edison in popular culture|List of things named after Thomas Edison}}
[[File:Thomas Edison issues of 1929 & 1949.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Thomas Edison issues of 1929 and 1947]]
Thomas Edison has been honored twice with two different U.S. postage stamps. The first was released in 1929 at Menlo Park, NJ, two years before his death; a [[:File:Two Cent Reds of 1926-1930.jpg|2-cent red]], on the 50th anniversary of his invention of the incandescent light, and again in 1947, 3-cent violet, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, [[First day of issue|first released]] in [[Milan, Ohio]], his place of birth.<ref>{{cite web |first= |last= |title=Thomas A. Edison Issue  |publisher=U.S. Post office; Smithsonian National Postal Museum |year= |access-date=November 23, 2023 |url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/about-us-stamps-modern-period-1940-present-commemorative-issues-1940-1949-1946-1947-2 |ref=smithsonian}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Scotts Specialized Catalogue of United States Postage Stamps |publisher=Scotts Publishing Company |location=New York|pages=88, 122 |ref=scotts}}</ref>

Edison has also appeared in popular culture as a character in novels, films, television shows, comics and video games. His prolific inventing helped make him an icon, and he has made appearances in popular culture during his lifetime down to the present day. Edison is also portrayed in popular culture as an adversary of [[Nikola Tesla]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Knapp |first=Alex |date=May 18, 2012 |title=Nikola Tesla Wasn't God and Thomas Edison Wasn't the Devil |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/05/18/nikola-tesla-wasnt-god-and-thomas-edison-wasnt-the-devil |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015151534/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/05/18/nikola-tesla-wasnt-god-and-thomas-edison-wasnt-the-devil |archive-date=October 15, 2017 |access-date=October 15, 2017 |website=Forbes}}</ref>