All the History Made at the 2020 Oscars

It was a night for the history books.

The 92nd Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, Feb. 9, are done and over. And with them, we’ve got a whole list of history-making moments. And no, we’re not just talking about everything South Korean film Parasite pulled off at this year’s ceremony.

To start, a handful of nominees made history by breaking Guinness World Records just with their nominations. Sound editor Alan Robert Murray, nominated this year for Joker, broke the record for the most nominations for his work with 10 nods in the category. Martin Scorsese‘s Best Director nod for The Irishman brought his career tally to nine, the most for a living director. And composer John Williams broke the record for most Oscar nominations for a living person with an astounding 52. Not only that, but he hold the record for the most decades in which he’s received nominations, having been nominated in every decade since the 1960s.

As she accepted her award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in Marriage Story, Laura Dern became the first actor in a Netflix production to ever take home an Academy Award. And it was the day before her 54th birthday, to boot! “This is the best birthday present ever,” the first-time Oscar winner said in her speech. 

When Hair Love was revealed as the winner of the Best Animated Short Film category, co-director Matthew A. Cherry became the second athlete after the late Kobe Bryant to ever win an Oscar. Both won in the same category. And Cherry’s co-director Karen Toliver became the first black woman to win an Oscar in any animation category.

When Taika Waititi took the stage to accept the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on Jojo Rabbit, which he also directed and starred in, the New Zealand native became the first person of Maori descent to win an Oscar. He was also the first indigenous person to be nominated in the category. “I want to dedicate this to all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art and dance, and write stories,” he said during his acceptance speech. “We are the original storytellers, and we make it here as well. Thank you.”

Best Original Song winners Elton John and Bernie Taupin, who won for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” their contribution to Rocketman, made personal history by nabbing a shared Oscar for the first time in their stories 53-year relationship.

And it wasn’t just winners and nominees who were making history. When Peanut Butter Falcon actor Zack Gottsagen took the stage with his co-star Shia LaBeouf to present, he became the first presenter with Down syndrome in the ceremony’s history. And when Maestro Eímear Noone conducted the presentation of nominees for Best Original Score, she was the first female conductor to ever do so in Oscars history.

And then there’s the Parasite of it all. The film won a total of four awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature, Best Director for Bong Joon Ho and, in a stunning and thrilling moment, Best Picture. Not only is it the first film not in English to take home Best Picture, but Joon Ho’s four wins in one night tie a record held by Walt Disney since 1953. Each win of the night was more historic than the last when it came to the film, which is now tied for the most wins by an international feature film with Sweden’s Fanny and Alexander and Taiwan’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

“Thank you and — yeah,” Joon Ho said while accepting Best International Film. “I’m ready to drink tonight. Until next morning.”

Congrats to all the history-makers at this year’s ceremony!