Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II
(July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960)
Songwriter Hammerstein won the first of two of his Oscars for
the song “The Last Time I Saw Paris” from the 1941 musical
Lady Be Good.
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II
(July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960)
Songwriter Hammerstein won the first of two of his Oscars for
the song “The Last Time I Saw Paris” from the 1941 musical
Lady Be Good.
The 1st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films
of 1927 and 1928 and took place on May 16, 1929, at a private dinner
held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
AMPAS president Douglas Fairbanks hosted the show. Tickets cost
five dollars, 270 people attended the event and the presentation
ceremony lasted fifteen minutes.
The awards were created by Louis B. Mayer, founder of Louis B.
Mayer Pictures Corporation (at present merged into Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer).
"Theme From A Summer Place" by Percy Faith began its nine
week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It remains the
longest-running number-one instrumental in the history of
the chart and brought Faith a Grammy Award for Record of
the Year in 1961.
Lee Arnold Petty (March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000)
The 1959 First Annual 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes at Daytona,
(now known as the inaugural Daytona 500) was the second race of the 1959
NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) season. It was held on February 22,
1959, in front of 41,921 spectators. It was the first race held at the 2.5-mile
Daytona International Speedway. The race lasted 3:41:22, with an average
speed of 135.521 mph. In the end, with the help of photographs and newsreel
footage, Lee Petty, father of racing legend Richard Petty, was officially declared
the winner.
Johnny Beauchamp, front, and Lee Petty were neck and neck on the final
lap of the inaugural Daytona 500.