Best Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia also won Academy Awards for Color Art Direction-Set Decoration (John Box, John Stoll, and Dario Simoni), Color Cinematography (Fred A. Young), Directing (David Lean), Film Editing (Anne Coates), Music – Music Score, substantially original (Maurice Jarre), and Sound (Shepperton Studio Sound Department).
Frank Sinatra made his first appearance as an Academy Awards host.
Gregory Peck, on his fifth nomination for Best Actor, won for To Kill a Mockingbird.
Sixteen-year-old Patty Duke, Best Supporting Actress for The Miracle Worker, was the first performer under the age of 18 to win a competitive Academy Award.
Robert Goulet sang a medley of the five songs nominated for Best Song. It was the first time the songs were not sung individually on the telecast.
On February 14, 1962, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy took television viewers on a tour of the White House.
On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
On March 2, 1962, Philadelphia Warriors star Wilt Chamberlain set the NBA single game scoring record by scoring 100 points in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks.
In May 1962, the Hulk debuted in The Incredible Hulk comic.
In July 1962, Andy Warhol premiered his Campbell's Soup Cans, a series of 32 canvases, in Los Angeles.
In August 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home. The Los Angeles County coroner ruled it a probable suicide.
In August 1962, Marvel Comics published Amazing Fantasy #15, which featured the first appearance of Spider-Man.
In August 1962, Beatles drummer Pete Best was fired and replaced by Ringo Starr. The band's first single, Love Me Do, was subsequently released in the U.K. in October 1962.
On October 1, 1962, James Meredith became the first African-American student to register at the University of Mississippi. He also attended his first two classes that day.
In October 1962, Johnny Carson took over as host of The Tonight Show.
In October 1962, Dr. No, the first James Bond film, premiered in U.K. theaters.
On October 13, 1962, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened on Broadway.
In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred.
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
To Steve Broid.