2nd Academy Awards

The 2nd Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on April 3, 1930, at an awards banquet in the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, honored the best films released between August 1, 1928, and July 31, 1929. This was the first Academy Awards ceremony broadcast on radio, by local station KNX, Los Angeles. Over 300 attended the event, which included Academy members and guests.

The second ceremony included a number of changes from the first: most importantly, it was the first presentation for which the winners were not announced in advance, and the number of award categories was reduced from twelve to seven. It is unique in that there were never any official nominees; instead, AMPAS conducted further research and came up with a list of unofficial or de facto nominees using records of the films that the judges had given their opinions on. Chester Morris was the first nominee for Best Actor to be born in the 20th century.