[1] The accounting firm of Price Waterhouse was hired to count the ballots, after voting results in 1939 were leaked by the Los Angeles Times.

[2] Walter Brennan's victory for his performance in The Westerner made him the first person to win an Academy Award more than twice.

The Thief of Bagdad received the most Oscars of the evening (3), the first time a film not nominated for Best Picture won the most awards.

[4] For the first time, names of all winners remained secret until the moment they received their awards, a practice that has continued ever since.

Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a six-minute direct radio address to the attendees from the White House.