Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (May 27, 1936 – March 29, 2024)

Gossett appeared in the popular 1977 miniseries Roots and
won Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a
Drama or Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards.

Gossett died at a rehabilitation center in Santa Monica,
California, on March 29. No cause of death has been given.  

In late December 2020, Gossett was hospitalized in Georgia
with COVID-19.

1985

By the time James Cameron took the stage to accept his Academy
Award for Best Director on the night of March 23, 1998, the Oscar dominance of his blockbuster film Titanic was all but assured.

Titanic tied the record for most Oscar nominations with 14—joining 1950’s All About Eve—and by night’s end would tie with Ben Hur
(1959) for most wins by sweeping 11 categories, including the
coveted Best Picture.

"Oppenheimer" led the night with the most nominations,
netting 13 at the beginning of the night. The film took
home seven awards.

Starring Irish actor Cillian Murphy (47) as J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon.

The movie was written, produced, and directed by
Christopher Nolan.

It received generally positive reviews upon its release on
December 15, 1939. While the casting was widely praised,
the long running time received criticism.

At the 12th Academy Awards, Gone with the Wind received
ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from
thirteen nominations, including wins for Best Picture, Best
Director (Fleming), Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously
awarded to Sidney Howard), Best Actress (Leigh), and Best
Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, becoming the first
African American to win an Academy Award). It set records
for the total number of wins and nominations at the time.

Hattie McDaniel
(June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1952

On February 15, 1998, after 20 years of trying, racing great
Dale Earnhardt Sr. finally won his first Daytona 500, the
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)
season opener and an event dubbed the “Super Bowl of
stock car racing.”

Following his victory, crews from competing teams lined the
pit road at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona
Beach, Florida, to congratulate Earnhardt, who drove his car
onto the grass and did several celebratory doughnuts, or
circles (below).