Oscars history is made as three black stars dominate Best Supporting Actress category

Viola Davis, Naomie Harris, and Octavia Spencer have made Oscars history by becoming the first three black stars to be nominated together in a single category.

All three are up for Best Supporting Actress for their roles in Fences, Moonlight, and Hidden Figures - the first time three black performers have held a majority in any Academy Awards category.

It is not the first time three minority actresses were nominated in the same category - Adriana Barraza (Babel), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), and Rinko Kikuchi (Babel) were nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2006. Hudson won the Oscar.

The Oscars nominations history news comes 12 months after the diversity drama that clouded the 2016 Academy Awards. No minorities or actors of color were nominated for any of the major awards last year (16).

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith led an Oscars boycott after he was shut out for his role in Concussion.

This year, there's a much better mix, with nominations for Denzel Washington, Ruth Negga, Dev Patel, Mahershala Ali, and director Barry Jenkins.

Meanwhile, hit film La La Land has tied the record for most nominations with 14. The film is up for Best Picture, while Damien Chazelle picked up nods for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and his stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling landed Best Actress and Best Actor mentions.

Celebrating the film's success shortly after the nominations were announced, Emma said, ''What a morning. I am so grateful for this honor and I'm so happy to share this feeling with my La La Land family.

"The greatest part of life is connecting with people, and I love the deeply talented, kind and passionate people I was lucky enough to work with on this movie. I'm also overjoyed that the movie has connected with audiences in the way it has, and that it's hopefully bringing a kick in their step to those who watch it. This is beyond any of our wildest imaginings and we can't wait to celebrate together.''

Earlier this month (Jan17), La La Land made Golden Globes history by picking up all seven awards for which it was nominated.

The movie musical now ties Titanic and All About Eve after scoring 14 Oscar nominations.