9 Surprising Things You Never Knew About the Oscars

The official name for the award is the "Academy Award of Merit," but who goes by that? (Answer: no one.) Two explanations are given for the Oscar nickname—a biography of Bette Davis says that the Oscar was named after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson. But a more popular story is that in 1931, Academy Executive Secretary Margaret Herrick commented that the statue reminded her of her "Uncle Oscar" (an affectionate name she gave to her cousin, Oscar Pierce). Columnist Sidney Skolsky was said to overhear this, and wrote that "employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'" and thus, history was made.

When an Oscar is given, presenters are NOT allowed to say "And the winner is…" They must say "And the Oscar goes to…" Tricky, tricky.

Tatum O'Neal is the youngest Oscar winner in history, winning "Best Supporting Actress" when she was only 10 years old for Paper Moon in 1973.

In 2013, 82-year-old Christopher Plummer won for "Best Supporting Actor" for his work in Beginners.

In the 85 years of Academy Awards, no Latina or Asian American woman has ever won a best actress. Salma Hayek has been the only Latina ever nominated (in 2003 for Frida) and Merle Oberon was the only Asian actress ever nominated (in 1935 for The Dark Angel.) In fact, there's only been one black female winner—Halle Berry for Monster's Ball in 2001.

But she's not the only one! Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, and Marlon Brando are also said to have misplaced their awards.