Medal

The first known instance of a medal being awarded comes from the historian Josephus. Writing long after the event, he recorded that in the fourth century BC, the High Priest Jonathan led the Hebrews in aid of Alexander the Great, and that in return for this, Alexander "...sent to Jonathan... honorary awards, as a golden button, which it is custom to give the king's kinsmen."

On August 7, 1782  George Washington ordered the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers who had performed meritorious deeds in n battle. The badge was a purple heart made of cloth or silk, and it was worn over the left breast. Only three soldiers were awarded the Badge of Military Merit during the American Revolution: Sergeant Elijah Churchill, Sergeant Daniel Bissell, and Sergeant William Brown.

The Badge of Military Merit was later renamed to the Purple Heart in 1932. The name change was made by President Herbert Hoover, who wanted to honor the memory of George Washington and to create a more poetic and memorable name for the award. The Purple Heart is now the highest military decoration awarded to American soldiers who have been wounded or killed in action.

President Abraham Lincoln created the U.S. Army Medal of Honor on July 12, 1862, by signing an Act of Congress that authorized the award of the medal to soldiers who had distinguished themselves "in action involving personal hazard." The first Medals of Honor were awarded on March 25, 1863, to six soldiers who had participated in the Andrews Raid, a daring attempt to disrupt Confederate rail transportation in Georgia.

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration that can be awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces. It is awarded for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States. The medal is a gold five-pointed star with a blue center bearing the words "United States of America." The star is surrounded by a wreath of laurel and oak leaves.

William H Carney was the first black soldier to earn the Medal of Honor. He won it for heroic actions at the on July 18, 1863 Second Battle of Fort Wagner in the American Civil War. Though shot four times, he refused to relinquish the 54th Massachusetts Flag, stating later, "Boys, the old flag never touched the ground."

A silver medal was awarded to the winner of each event during the first modern summer Olympics in 1896.

1896 Olympic medals

The 1912 Olympics was the last time that gold medals were actually solid gold.

William Donovan, the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, during World War II is the only person to have received all four of the United States' highest awards. A decorated veteran of World War I, Donovan was awarded  The Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the National Security Medal.

The Soviet military decoration of Order of Victory was the highest military decoration awarded for World War II service in the Soviet Union, and one of the rarest orders in the world. It consisted of 47g of platinum, 2g of gold, 19g of silver, 25 carats of ruby and 16 carats of diamond. The medal is estimated to be worth $10 million.

Nobel Prize Laureate Max von Laue and James Franck had their gold medals dissolved in acid and stowed on a laboratory shelf by fellow Laureate George de Hevesy in order to avoid confiscation by Nazi invaders during World War II. The medals were later recast into solids using the original gold atoms.

Before Japan surrendered to end World War II, the US armed forces ordered over 1 million Purple Heart medals in anticipation of a difficult land invasion. That stock is still being used today.

Charles Liteky (February 14, 1931 – January 20, 2017) was the only Medal of Honor recipient to return the medal. A Roman Catholic priest, Liteky received the award for braving intense fire to carry 20 wounded soldiers to safety during a 1967 battle. He later left the priesthood, became a social activist, and in 1986 renounced his Medal of Honor, as protest of US policies in Central America.

Medal of Honor recipients are entitled to much more than the medal including a $1,300 monthly bonus, 10% retirement raise and may wear their uniform even after they are out of the service.

The most decorated American unit in history is the 442nd Infantry Regiment, which was almost entirely made up of Japanese Americans. Out of the 14,000 who served, 9,486 earned the Purple Heart and 21 earned the Medal of Honor. The unit itself was awarded eight residential Unit Citations.

M.I.A. received an MBE for her services to music, during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on January 14, 2020. In a statement, the hip-hop star said she accepted the honor in tribute to her mother, Kala Pragasam, who for over three decades has hand stitching medals distributed by the palace. Fittingly, the medal that the Duke of Cambridge pinned to M.I.A's chest was one that her mother had made.

All of the bronze medals from the Sydney Olympics in 2000 were made from melted one-cent coins that Australia had pulled out of circulation.

An Olympic gold medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics would be worth around $600 (£450) as scrap — it is made of silver which is gold-plated.  An Olympic silver medal contains 500g of silver and, melted down, would be worth $310 (£236) — while a bronze would be worth just £4 ($3), as it is made of brass.

Paralympic medals from the Rio Olympics rattle. They emit a different sound depending whether its bronze, silver or gold to help blind athletes.

Christie Rampone, three-time gold medalist in U.S. women's soccer, keeps her Olympic medals in her pots and pans in the kitchen.