Daniel Day-Lewis has made history with a third Oscar win at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

The Irish-based method actor became the first man to win the coveted gong for the third time at the 2013 awards. He also became the first actor to win while playing an American president.

Day-Lewis has been feted for his lead role in the Steven Spielberg movie "Lincoln."

He now plans to take a five-year sabbatical at his Wicklow farm before he even thinks about making another movie.

Day-Lewis accepted his award from actress Meryl Streep.

An emotional Day-Lewis told the audience: “I really don’t know how any of this happened.

“I do know that I have received so much more than my fair share of good fortune in my life and I’m so grateful to the Academy for this beautiful honour.”

The English-born actor then paid tribute to his wife, the author and director Rebecca Miller, and tearfully dedicated the award to his mother, the late actress Jill Balcon.

Read more: Daniel Day-Lewis to retire for five years to his Irish farm

He also joked that Spielberg had wanted Meryl Streep for the part of Abraham Lincoln and that he had been the lead role as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."

"Argo" was the big winner on the night, with the Ben Affleck-directed movie winning the Best Film Oscar.

Read More: Ben Affleck "sneaks" into cinemas to watch Argo

"Argo" also won the Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay (Chris Terrio) and Best Editing (William Goldenberg).

Ang Lee won the Best Director Oscar for "Life of Pi" which also won Oscars for Original Score (Mychael Danna), Cinematography (Claudio Miranda) and Visual Effects (Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R Elliott).

Jennifer Lawrence was named Best Actress for her performance in "Silver Linings Playbook."

Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for "Les Misérables," one of three awards for the musical on the night.

Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for "Django Unchained."

Tarantino won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his script for "Django Unchained," his second Oscar.

Adele and producer and co-writer Paul Epworth won the Best Original Song Oscar for their Bond theme "Skyfall."