The very first Academy Awards ceremony was held in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on May 16, 1929. There were 250 people in attendance, and tickets cost $10. Today, attendance at the Academy Awards is by invitation only -- no tickets are sold to the public.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a professional honorary organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures, has conducted the annual Academy Awards since 1929. In addition to organizing the Oscars, AMPAS runs the Nicholl Screenwriting competition and operates the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills.

Wings (1927), a silent movie about fighter pilots during World War I, won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture (then called "Best Production"). The other nominees in the Best Picture (Best Production) category that year were The Racket and Seventh Heaven. Wings was also the only film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Engineering Effects.

At the 1968 Academy Awards, Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) tied in the voting for Best Actress. Both performers recieved the award. Other ties in Academy Awards history include Best Actor 1935 (Fredric March & Wallace Beery), Best Documentary 1949 (A Chance to Live & So Much for So Little), Best Documentary 1986 (Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got & Down and Out in America), and Best Live Action Short Film 1994 (Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life & Trevor).

The Oscars were first broadcast in color in 1966.

The accounting and consulting firm Price Waterhouse (now Price Waterhouse Coopers) has been employed by the Academy (AMPAS) since 1934 to tabulate Oscar votes and ensure the secrecy of the results.

It Happened One Night (1934) was the first film to win Academy Awards in all of the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert), and Best Screenplay (Robert Riskin). Other films to later match this remarkable achievement include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

In 2001, a new category was added to the Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature. Shrek took home the inaugural award, defeating Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Monsters, Inc.

In 1981, Katharine Hepburn became the first actor to win four Academy Awards. She won Best Actress honors for her performances in Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). During her career, Hepburn received a total of 12 nominations.

Bob Hope hosted or co-hosted the Academy Awards 18 times during his career -- but he never won an acting award. During the 1968 ceremony, he joked: "Welcome to the Academy Awards, or, as it's known at my house, Passover." Bob Hope did receive several Honorary Academy Awards: 1941: Special silver plaque - In recognition of his unselfish services to the motion picture industry. 1945: Lifetime membership in the Academy - For his many services to the Academy. 1953: Honorary Oscar - For his contribution to the laughter of the world, his service to the motion picture industry, and his devotion to the American premise. 1966: Gold Medal - For unique and distinguished service to our industry and the Academy.