Best Picture: The Apartment
The Apartment also won Academy Awards for Black-and-White Art Direction-Set Decoration (Alexander Trauner and Edward G. Boyle), Directing (Billy Wilder), Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), and Writing – Story and Screenplay written directly for the screen (Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond).
For the first time, the ceremony was telecast by the ABC Television Network.
Bob Hope was the master of ceremonies.
For the first time, a song from a foreign-made film won in the Song category (Manos Hadjidakis's Never on Sunday).
In February 1960, African-American students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University began a sit-in at a whites only Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
On April 1, 1960, the United States launched the first weather satellite, TIROS 1.
In May 1960, President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.
On July 4, 1960, the new 50-star flag of the United States was officially flown for the first time at a special ceremony at Fort McHenry.
In July 1960, Harper Lee's only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was published. It went on to win the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
On September 26, 1960, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy participated in the first televised Presidential debate. On November 8, Kennedy defeated Nixon and became the youngest U.S. president in history.
December 31, 1960 was the last day that the farthing, which was worth one-quarter of a penny, was legal tender in the U.K
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
To Sol Lesser.
Honorary Award
To Gary Cooper for his many memorable screen performances and the international recognition he, as an individual, has gained for the motion picture industry.
Honorary Award
To Stan Laurel for his creative pioneering in the field of cinema comedy.
Honorary Award
To Hayley Mills for Pollyanna, the most outstanding juvenile performance during 1960.