Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sir Godfrey Copley, a Member of Parliament for Thirsk, left £100 to Abraham Hill and Hans Sloane in 1709 to fund the award. The Royal Society converted this cash grant into a physical gold medal on the 7th of December 1736.
Stephen Gray became the first recipient of such a grant in 1731 for his new electrical experiments. He received the award as encouragement for his readiness to share discoveries with the scientific community.
Dorothy Hodgkin broke that barrier in 1976 as the first female recipient of the Copley Medal. Her work focused on the structures of complex molecules including Penicillin, vitamin B12, and insulin.
The current prize includes a £25,000 monetary component alongside the silver-gilt physical object. Senior scientists irrespective of nationality remain eligible for consideration under these updated rules.
In 2022, the Oxford, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine team became the first collective recipient of the medal. The team was honored for rapidly developing and deploying a vaccine during a global pandemic.