On this date, 68 years ago, Frank Sinatra won his only Oscar when Mercedes McCambridge announced that he had won Best Supporting Actor for his role in From Here To Eternity. This is the role that some claimed the mob got for him, though the truth was that he was given the role after his-then wife, Ava Gardner, made an appeal to studio head, Harry Cohn. At that time, Gardner was actually a bigger star than Sinatra, whose career was considered to be in decline.

Sinatra in decline? The Academy disagreed! And so did the audiences who would make Sinatra a star for many decades to come.

Previous Moments In Television History:

1. Planet of the Apes The TV Series
2. Lonely Water
3. Ghostwatch Traumatizes The UK
4. Frasier Meets The Candidate
5. The Autons Terrify The UK
6. Freedom’s Last Stand
7. Bing Crosby and David Bowie Share A Duet
8. Apaches Traumatizes the UK
9. Doctor Who Begins Its 100th Serial
10. First Night 2013 With Jamie Kennedy
11. Elvis Sings With Sinatra
12. NBC Airs Their First Football Game
13. The A-Team Premieres
14. The Birth of Dr. Johnny Fever
15. The Second NFL Pro Bowl Is Broadcast
16. Maude Flanders Gets Hit By A T-Shirt Cannon
17. Charles Rocket Nearly Ends SNL