The Know Daily - Monday 11 March 2024

_{Read in 5m 24s∙ Listening to Norah Jones ∙}

A gray whale that vanished from the Atlantic Ocean in the 19th century was recently spotted off the coast of New England in the US. Scientists who identified the whale - which had previously been hunted to near extinction - described the experience as “wild and exciting”. 

🏆 Oscars 2024 recap

The 96th Academy Awards took place last night. Things unfolded "pretty much as expected", said Variety - but here’s a recap of the night.

Oppenheimer won big
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was the big winner of the night, claiming seven awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. both earned their first Oscars: Murphy won Best Actor, while  Downey Jr. took home Best Supporting Actor.

Women making history

Emma Stone scored her second Best Actress win for her role in Poor Things, which won a total of four Oscars. Stone joins an “elite club” of 14 other actresses who have won Best Actress multiple times, said Screenrant, having previously won for La La Land in 2017. 

Da'Vine Joy Randolph picked up Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers, while Justine Triet secured Best Original Screenplay for Anatomy of a Fall alongside her writing partner Arthur Harari.

Big Kenergy
Two big Barbie performances stole the show. Ryan Gosling performed his nominated song "I’m Just Ken" in a diamond-studded pink suit and surrounded by 65 dancing Kens, said Elle. Meanwhile, Billie Eilish’s performance of “What Was I Made For”, which took home the Oscar for Best Original Song, got a standing ovation.

Al Pacino's slip-up and Anderson’s absence
83-year-old actor Al Pacino presented the top award of Best Picture - and he appeared to “jump the gun” in announcing the winner, said Sky News.

Wes Anderson also secured his first Oscar for his adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which clinched the title of best live-action short - although he wasn’t  there to pick up the award, noted the BBC.

Check out more of the Oscars best bits here.