On May 16, 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences handed out its first awards, at a dinner party for
around 250 people held in the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood,
California.

The brainchild of Louis B. Mayer, head of the powerful MGM
film studio, the Academy was organized in May 1927 as a non-
profit organization dedicated to the improvement of the film
industry.

Its first president and the host of the May 1929 ceremony was
the actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Unlike today, the winners of
the first Oscars—as the coveted gold-plated statuettes later
became known—were announced before the awards
ceremony itself.

The winners of the first ceremony, including Janet Gaynor
for best actress, were announced a few months in advance. Douglas Fairbanks, president of the academy, handed out
the honors.

Vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, Conrad Nigel, presents the Oscar to actress
Norma Shearer.

William C Demille, President Of The Academy Of Motion
Picture Arts And Sciences hands an Oscar to Mary
Pickford (with Warner Baxter and Hans Kraly looking
on.

SANDY KOZEL

The musical’s 1956 Broadway production was a notable critical
and popular success, winning six Tony Awards, including Best
Musical. It set a record for the longest run of any musical on
Broadway up to that time and was followed by a hit London
production. Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews starred in both
productions.

(NASA) – America’s first space station, Skylab, launched into
Earth’s orbit on this day in history, May 14, 1973.

The unmanned space station blasted into space on a modified
Saturn V rocket at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. 

According to Space.com., this marked the last time the Saturn
V rocket was used in spaceflight.

Artist’s concept of Skylab space station cluster in Earth’s
orbit.

James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849)

On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly votes in
favor of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on
Mexico in a dispute over Texas.

Under the threat of war, the United States had refrained from
annexing Texas after the latter won independence from Mexico
in 1836.

But in 1844, President John Tyler restarted negotiations with
the Republic of Texas, culminating with a Treaty of Annexation.

But shortly before leaving office and with the support of President
-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on
March 1, 1845. Texas was admitted to the Union on December 29. 

llustration: General Zachary Taylor rides his white horse at
the Battle of Palo Alto near present-day Brownsville, Texas,
8 May 1846.

The body of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh’s baby was found
on May 12, 1932, more than two months after he was kidnapped
from his family’s Hopewell, New Jersey, mansion.

Lindbergh, who became the first worldwide celebrity five years
earlier when he flew The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic,
and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh discovered a ransom note
in their 20-month-old child’s empty room on March 1.

In barely legible English, the ransom note (below) demanded
$50,000. The crime captured the attention of the entire nation.

Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.