Emmys 2015: 5 groundbreaking wins at TV's top awards

It was a historic night at theEmmysSunday evening, with major breakthroughs and groundbreaking wins on different fronts as the annual celebration of television moved towards greater recognition of diverse performances and shows.

• Game of Thrones, Veep earn top show honours at Emmy Awards

• TV academy, actors union celebrate diversity at pre-Emmy reception

1. Black actresses triumph

A few years after Viola Davis turned in an Oscar-nominated performance in The Help, she has becomethe first non-Caucasian woman to win a best dramatic actress Emmy for her starring role in as a law professor in ABC's dramaHow to Get Away with Murder.

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The significance of the moment wasn't lost on the esteemed, veteran actress and Tony-winner, who kicked off heracceptance speech by quoting19thcentury abolitionist HarrietTubman.

"In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovelyflowers and beautiful, white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can't seem to get there no how. I can't seem to get over that line," Davis quoted.

Viola Davis' historic Emmy win

9 years ago

Duration 5:07

TV awards takes steps towards honouring diverse performers, roles, shows

In addition to thanking series creator PeterNowalkand executive producerShondaRhimesfor having "redefinedwhat it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black," she also gave a shout out tosome of her African-American peers currently working in Hollywood fromfellow Emmy contenderTarajiP.Henson(Empire) to Scandal'sKerryWashington to Oscar-winnerHalleBerry (Extant).

Davis' win underlined a triumphant night for black actresses, with UzoAdubatearfully accepting her second consecutivesupporting actress Emmy for Orange is The New Black and a shocked Regina King earning the outstanding supporting actress in a limited series/movie for American Crime.

2. Transparent focusesontransgenderissues

Comedy veteran JeffreyTamborscored Emmy gold, winning lead actor in a comedy forplayingtransgenderwomanMauraPfeffermanin the landmark Amazon series.

"Thank you for your patience, thank you for your courage, thank you for your stories, thank you for your inspiration, thank you for letting us be part of the change," he said in his acceptance speech,as he dedicated his performance and win to thetransgendercommunity.

Series creator JillSoloway, who based the show on her father's transition, also took home an Emmy for her directing.

In her speech, she urged the audience to support equal rights fortranspeople, explaining for instance,that if hertransparent (whom she calls "Moppa") wanted to rent an apartment, it is still legal for people to discriminate against her in 32 states.

"We don't have atranstipping point yet, we have atranscivil rights problem,"Solowaysaid.

3. Game of Thrones onslaught

Emmy voters typically eschew genre fare in its main categories (aside from thelongrunningseries Lost ), but the influence and appeal of HBO's sprawling fantasy epic Game of Thrones cannot be denied.

Heading intoitssixthseasonand garneringever-increasing attention and acclaim, the show was crowned with 12 wins setting a new record for mostEmmyswon in a single year by knocking out previous record-holder The West Wing (which picked up nine in 2000).

"Thanks again, HBO, for believing in dragons," producer DavidBenioffsaid.

4. A Mad Men finale forHamm

Though Mad Men has, in the past, received Emmy recognition (including four consecutive best drama series wins startingin 2008), JonHammhas always missed out in the best dramatic actor category for his memorablerole as the show's central figure: the conflicted and complicated ad man Don Draper.

That's until last night, whenHammmemorably bypassed the stairs to clamber onto the stage and accept his trophy and was visibly taken back at the audience's applause.

"I turned around and realized that people were clapping for me," he told reporters later, backstage.

"I was mortified. It's been so nice, all of it. This is sort of the culmination of that wonderful feeling."

5. Tracy Morgan returns

The television community celebrated a different sort of win with thesurpriseappearance of former Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan, who turned up onstage at the end of the night to present the Emmy for best dramatic series.

"It's been a long road back," said Morgan, who suffered major injuries in a horrific car accident in June 2014.

"I suffered a traumatic brain injury that put me in a coma for eight days. When Ifinally regained consciousness, I was just ecstatic to learn that I wasn't the one who messed up," he quipped.

These wins struck a chord for different communities, buta breezy comment from Emmy host AndySambergearly on suggested Hollywood still has a way to go.

"The big story this year, of course, is diversity. This is the most diverse group of nominees in Emmy history," he noted at the start of the show.

"So congratulations, Hollywood, you did it. Yeah. Racism is over don't fact-check that."