The National Inventors Hall of Fame is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology.
As of 2020, 603 inventors have been inducted, mostly constituting historic persons from the past three centuries, but including about 100 living inductees.[1] Nominees must hold a U.S. patent of significant contribution to the U.S. welfare, and which advances science and useful arts.[2] The 2020 class included 22 inventors.John Fitch was the earliest born inventor inducted into the NIHF (1743), while Luis von Ahn is currently the most recently born (1978).