In 1999 she was given a Congressional Gold Medal of Honour, the highest honour possible for an American civilian.

ECONOMIST: Rosa Parks

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, and the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honour, three years later.

BBC: NEWS | Americas | US civil rights icon Parks dies

Mrs Parks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, and the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honour, three years later.

BBC: Condoleezza Rice paid tribute to the civil rights icon

In 2009, the WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

WSJ: NY museum paying tribute to WASP killed in WWII

Dr. Norman Borlaug is one of only three Americans to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize, the Congressional Gold Medal (America's highest civilian honor) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

WHITEHOUSE: A Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture

It is a great privilege to be here today as we confer the Congressional Gold Medal on a man who's spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides across this country -- Senator Edward Brooke.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Honors Senator Edward William Brooke

He never sought the celebrity he would win, or the honors a grateful nation bestowed upon him: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, or the Congressional Gold Medal to name but a few.

FORBES: Neil Armstrong's Immortal Footprint