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First black filmmaker to be nominated for Best Director - John Singleton was the first black filmmaker nominated for Best Director, for his 1991 film 'Boyz n the Hood.' Not only that, but he also remains the youngest nominee for Best Director, at just 24 years old! 

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First black Oscar winner - In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American performer to win any Oscar. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in 'Gone with the Wind.' Her victory, however, was marred by the fact that she was sat at the back of the venue, segregated from the rest of the cast.

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First black Best Actor winner - In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win Best Actor for his role in 'Lilies of the Field.' His costar Anne Bancroft famously gave him a kiss on the cheek at the event, which caused uproar among conservative audiences.

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First black Best Actress winner - In 2002, after receiving a standing ovation for being the first African-American woman to win Best Actress, an emotional Halle Berry gave one of the best speeches: "This moment is so much bigger than me ... it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened."

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First year in which two black actors/actresses won for acting - In the same year that Halle Berry won Best Actress, Denzel Washington won Best Actor for 'Training Day,' making 2002 the first year in which two black actors/actresses won for acting.

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First black writer to win for screenwriting - Geoffrey S. Fletcher won Best Adapted Screenplay for 'Precious' in 2009. That same ceremony also saw the first African-American LGBT nominee for Best Director, Lee Daniels, also for 'Precious.'

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First black filmmaker to win Best Picture - Steve McQueen, director and producer of '12 Years a Slave,' became the first black filmmaker to win Best Picture in 2014.

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First film with an all-black cast to win Best Picture - In one of the Academy's most embarrassing moments to date, 'La La Land' (with an almost entirely white cast) was incorrectly named Best Picture. The monumental success of the real winner, 'Moonlight,' was only further emphasized when the award was put in the proper hands.

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First Indigenous Best Actress nominee - Yalitza Aparicio, the star of Oscar darling 'Roma' and a Oaxacan native, became the first Indigenous woman to ever be nominated for Best Actress in 2019.

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First Indigenous Best Actress nominee - For her first time acting, she’s already received an Oscar nomination of the highest order. It was also the first time a Mexican-born actress had been nominated in 17 years (since Salma Hayek was the first Mexican-born actress to receive a nomination for her role in 'Frida').

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First Indigenous Oscar nominee - Chief Dan George, native to Canada, was the first Indigenous person to be nominated for an Oscar. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1971 for his role in 'Little Big Man.' It was the film's only nod!

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First Indigenous musician to win an Oscar - Canadian musician Buffy Sainte-Marie won the Oscar in 1983 for Best Original Song for 'Up Where We Belong,' which appeared in 'An Officer and a Gentleman.'

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First (and only) Indigenous acceptance/rejection speech - Unfortunately, Sacheen Littlefeather was only onstage in 1973 because Marlon Brando won Best Actor for his role in 'The Godfather' and refused to show up. He sent the Native American activist to reject the award due to the poor treatment of Native Americans by the film industry. It was certainly one of the greatest Oscar shocks.

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First Native American Oscars host - In 1934, famed humorist, actor, and newspaper columnist Will Rogers, of Cherokee heritage, hosted the Academy Awards.

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First Native American Oscar presenter - As recently as 2018, Wes Studi, a Cherokee actor and producer, became the first Native American presenter at the awards. His starring credits include the Oscar-winning films 'Avatar,' 'The Last of the Mohicans,' and 'Dances with Wolves,' as well as the Oscar-nominated films 'The New World' and 'Geronimo: An American Legend.' While presenting, he famously thanked veterans in the Cherokee language Tsalagi.

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First Latin American actor to win Best Actor - José Ferrer, from Puerto Rico, became the first Latin American Best Actor recipient for his role in 'Cyrano de Bergerac' in 1950.

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First Latin American actress to be nominated for Best Actress - In 1999, Fernanda Montenegro, from Brazil, became the first ever Latina nominated for Best Actress, this for her role 'Central Station.'

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First Latin American director to win Best Director - Alfonso Cuarón, from Mexico, won Best Director in 2014 for 'Gravity,' a film that took home a total of eight awards that night!

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First Asian (and non-Caucasian) to win Best Director - Ang Lee, from Taiwan, won Best Director in 2006, and for LGBT film 'Brokeback Mountain' no less!

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First Asian Oscar winner in acting - In 1957, Japanese-American actress Miyoshi Umeki became the first Asian performer to win an acting Oscar, taking home Best Supporting Actress for her role in 'Sayonara.' To this day, she is the only Asian actress ever to win an Oscar.

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First Indian Oscar winner -

Bhanu Athaiya, a costume designer from India, made history as she took home the Oscar for Best Costume Design in 1983 for her work in 'Gandhi.' She continued to be the only Indian to hold the title for 26 years.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

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First film with an entirely non-white cast to win Best Picture - In 2009, 'Slumdog Millionaire' became the first film with an entirely non-white cast to take home the greatest award of the night.

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First Muslim actor to win in an acting category - Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim actor to win in any acting category when he took home the award for Best Supporting Actor for 'Moonlight' in 2017.

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First woman to win Best Director - In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the first female filmmaker to win a Best Director award, honored for her movie 'The Hurt Locker.' Even after her win, Hollywood's gender gap persisted—though Greta Gerwig was nominated in 2018.

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First female producer to win Best Picture - Julia Phillips co-produced 'The Sting,' which in 1974 won Best Picture, making her the first female producer to win an Academy Award in this category.

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First woman to win Best Animated Feature - In 2013, Brenda Chapman became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for 'Brave.' In 1998, she was also the first woman to direct an animated feature for a major studio with DreamWorks Animation's 'The Prince of Egypt.'

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First woman to receive an Honorary Award - Six-year-old Shirley Temple was the first woman (or girl) to receive a Special Award in 1934.

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First LGBT Best Actress winner - Janet Gaynor is said to have been a closeted bisexual, and is therefore considered the first LGBT acting Oscar nominee and winner. She is also the first Best Actress winner ever, winning for her performances in three films ('7th Heaven,' 'Street Angel,' and 'Sunrise'). This was at the first Oscars, taking place in 1928—the early years of the Academy Awards allowed for actors and actresses to be nominated for several movies in the same category. Even so, Gaynor is the only actress to have won one Oscar for multiple film roles.

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First LGBT Best Actor winner - Charles Laughton, a closeted bisexual, was the first LGBT performer to win Best Actor for his role in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' in 1933.

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First publicly out LGBT acting nominee and winner - In 1983, Linda Hunt was publicly out at the time of being nominated for and winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as a male character in 'The Year of Living Dangerously,' also making her the first person to win an Oscar for portraying a character of the opposite sex. But the character was also Asian, which Hunt is not.

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First openly transgender man nominated - Yance Ford was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 'Strong Island' in 2017, making him the first openly transgender man to receive a nod.

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First deaf Oscar winner -

In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first deaf performer to win an acting Oscar, and for Best Actress no less, this thanks to her role in 'Children of a Lesser God.' It was actually her debut acting role!

Check out these surprising actors who have never won an Oscar or Golden Globe.

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