The 1940 Academy Awards were spoiled by the L.A. Times

The internet may have made spoilers more common, but it certainly didn’t invent them. Back in 1940, for instance, the Los Angeles Times accidentally revealed the winners of the 12th Academy Awards by publishing them before the end of the event on February 29, 1940. At the time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave certain newspapers the list of winners prior to the event on the condition that they not publish them until after the ceremony concluded. As the 8:45 p.m. edition of the L.A. Times came out before that happened, the news spread that Gone With the Wind had won Best Picture before it was officially announced.

The film won seven other Oscars that night, including Best Director for Victor Fleming, Best Actress for Vivien Leigh, and Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, making her the first Black person to win an Academy Award. Other big winners that night included Robert Donat, who was named Best Actor for his performance in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and Thomas Mitchell, whose turn in Stagecoach earned him the Best Supporting Actor statuette. The Wizard of Oz, also directed by Fleming in one of the most notable years a director has ever had, won two Oscars: Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Over the Rainbow.” Following the early reveal, the academy stopped giving out the winners early and started the sealed-envelope tradition that continues to this day.