May 16, 1929: The 1st Academy Awards

May 16, 1929: The 1st Academy Awards ceremony is held, at a private dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) honored the best films of 1927 and 1928 -- a last gasp for, and perhaps a fond farewell to, the Silent Film Era. And it was the only Academy Award ceremony that was not broadcast on either radio or television.

* Best Picture: Wings, a film about pilots in World War I, starring Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen.

* Best Director. Comedy: Lewis Milestone, for Two Arabian Knights, produced by Howard Hughes. Another film set in the combat of World War I, it starred William Boyd, Mary Astor and Louis Wolheim.

* Best Director, Drama: Frank Borzage, for 7th Heaven, about poor people in Paris, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell.

* Best Writing: Ben Hecht, for Underworld, directed by Josef von Sternberg, a crime drama starring Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent and George Bancroft.

* Best Actor: Emil Jannings, for The Last Command, another von Sternberg film, about the Russian Revolution, also starring Brent, and William Powell.

* Best Actress: Janet Gaynor, for 7th Heaven.

Janet Gaynor with a charter "Oscar"

In 1939, the gold statuette that is the trophy for the Academy Award was officially named "Oscar." The origin of the name is disputed. Margaret Herrick, the Academy's executive director, supposedly first saw the award in 1931, and said, "Why, he looks just like my uncle Oscar." That story was first repeated in 1934. That same year, Walt Disney won one, and thanked the Academy for his "Oscar." This conflicts with the claim of Bette Davis, who won them in 1935 and 1938, and said she named the trophy after her 1st husband, bandleader Harmon Oscar Nelson.

Venues for the ceremonies:

* 1929: Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (1 time)

* 1930, 1932-34, 1940, 1943: Ambassador Hotel (6)

* 1931, 1935-39, 1941-42: Biltmore Hotel (8)

* 1944-46: Chinese Theatre (3)

* 1947-48, 1988-89, 1991, 1995, 1997-98, 2000-01: Shrine Auditorium (10)

* 1949: Academy Theatre (1)

* 1950-60: Pantages Theatre (11)

* 1961-68: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (8)

* 1969-87, 1990, 1992-94, 1996, 1999: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (25)

* 2002-20, 2022: Dolby Theatre (20)

* 2021: Union Station (1, a smaller ceremony, due to COVID restrictions)

In 1989, after 70 years of presenters saying, "And the winner is... " before opening the envelope and revealing the winner, they began saying, "And the Oscar goes to... " That's the way it's been ever since. With one notable exception. In 2003, with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, already a winner for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Chicago, Michael Douglas announced the Best Picture winner with his father, Kirk Douglas. Each of them was a previous Oscar winner. Once Kirk, his voice affected by a stroke, read off the nominees, Michael said, "Now, you're supposed to say, 'And the Oscar goes to.'" But, as one of the earliest surviving winners, Kirk, who lived to be 103, went the old way, and said, "And the winner is... " And they announced it together: "Chicago!"

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May 16, 1929 was a Thursday. Jazz singer Betty Carter was born on this day.

Football, basketball and hockey were out of season. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Yankee Stadium. Ed Morris outpitched Waite Hoyt, and Bill Regan won it with a triple in the top of the 12th inning. Babe Ruth went 1-for-6 with an RBI, and Lou Gehrig went 0-for-5.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 9-5 at Braves Field in Boston. The game went 10 innings, and pitcher Freddie Fitzsimmons helped his own cause with an RBI single in the top of the 10th. Travis Jackson hit a home run.

* The Brooklyn Robins -- as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson managed them from 1914 to 1931 -- beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 14-13 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Washington Nationals, 4-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Lefty Grove went the distance for the win.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-2 at Navin Field in Detroit. (It was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.)

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-6 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.