Yahoo! Answers

The first Academy Awards ceremony was on May 16, 1929 hosted by Douglas Fairbanks. It wasn’t broadcast on radio or television and only lasted 15 minutes. Times have changed since then. The Oscars are now broadcast to more than 1 billion people worldwide and three hours long!

How did the Academy Award get the nickname “Oscar”? According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the nickname “Oscar” came about when then “Academy librarian (and eventual executive director) Margaret Herrick remarked that it resembled her Uncle Oscar. The Academy didn’t adopt the nickname officially until 1939, but it was widely known enough by 1934 that Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used it in a piece referring to Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win.”

The Oscar’s official name is the Academy Award® of Merit, weighs 8.5 pounds is 13.5 inches and takes 3-4 weeks to manufacture. So who will be the lucky winners this year to take home the coveted prize?

The nominations were announced on January 24, 2012 and our very own Academy Awards on Yahoo! Movies will be providing complete coverage of the event. You can also make your predictions there and share them with your friends. The winners will be announced at the 84th Academy Awards on February 26, 2012 and will be hosted by Billy Crystal. So find out then to see if your predictions were right!

What do you think of the nominations? Do you think anyone or film was overlooked? Please leave a comment below.

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Photo by Al_HikesAZ

Mmm…do you prefer an elegant rabbit with hot apple jelly from one of the best restaurants in the world, or a mouth-watering burrito from the hole-in-the-wall place down the street?

If you picked the rabbit, you should know that Restaurant Magazine will announce the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants on Monday, April 26. Each year, the list is compiled by famous chefs, renowned food critics, and leading restaurateurs, and is certain to cause debate. Makes sense that everyone’s experience at a restaurant is different. So as we wait patiently for this year’s list, go ahead and take a look at what made last year’s list of World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

If you picked the burrito, there’s no award for the mom-and-pop place, but we’re sure the great food and reasonable prices are good enough. Hole-in-the-wall restaurants tend to be unique and can be a hidden secret from the rest of the world. So let the community and the team in on the secret! What’s your favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant or café? What makes it different?

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