The 86th Academy Awards Memorable Moments

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
12 Years a Slave also won Actress in a Supporting Role (Lupita Nyong'o) and Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley).
With 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen became the first black filmmaker to direct a Best Picture-winning film, and Alfonso Cuarón became the first Latino winner for Directing with Gravity. The only multiple Oscar-winning individuals were Alfonso Cuarón (who also won for Film Editing for Gravity) and Catherine Martin (Production Design and Costume Design for The Great Gatsby), the first woman to receive multiple awards on two occasions.

With her Best Actress nomination for August: Osage County Meryl Streep elevated her record-breaking number of acting nominations to 18.Frozen became the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film to win in the Animated Feature Film category.

Ellen DeGeneres hosted for the second time, following the 79th Academy Awards in 2007.

Unusually, the Oscar ceremony featured two acceptance speeches with singing: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Original Song winners for Let It Go from Frozen, and Darlene Love, who accompanied Morgan Neville, Janet Friesen and Caitrin Rogers to accept the Oscar for Documentary Feature for 20 Feet from Stardom.

In March, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, became Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and the first from the Americas to be elected. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, was the first pope in more than six centuries to resign.

On April 15, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, leaving three people dead and over 260 wounded. The two men allegedly behind the attack, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were cornered four days later by the police.

On June 26, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government must provide benefits to same-sex spouses and let stand a ruling that California's Proposition 8 from 2008 was unconstitutional.

On November 8, Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the Philippines with winds exceeding 150 miles an hour, killing more than 6,000 people and displacing an additional three million.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
To Angelina Jolie, an artist whose humanitarian efforts continue to touch and inspire the film industry and the world.

Honorary Award
To Angela Lansbury, an entertainment icon who has created some of cinema's most memorable characters, inspiring generations of actors.

Honorary Award
To Steve Martin, in recognition of his extraordinary talents and the unique inspiration he has brought to the art of motion pictures.

Honorary Award
To Piero Tosi, a visionary whose incomparable costume designs shaped timeless, living art in motion pictures.