Short answers, pulled from the story.
Katsudō Shashin remains the earliest known animation produced in Japan with an uncertain date around 1911. The first confirmed public showing occurred on the 15th of May 1912 featuring Émile Cohl's Les Exploits de Feu Follet.
Oten Shimokawa, Junichi Kouchi, and Seitaro Kitayama were the three pioneers who shaped this era. Most works from these three creators were destroyed after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
Osamu Tezuka established Mushi Production in 1961 after his contract with Toei Animation expired. Astro Boy premiered on Fuji TV on the 1st of January 1963 becoming the first widely broadcast anime series to Western audiences.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie Mugen Train released on the 16th of October 2020 became the fastest-grossing film in Japanese cinema earning 10 billion yen in just ten days. It beat the previous record set by Spirited Away which took twenty-five days to achieve similar earnings.
In 2024 Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature making it Hayao Miyazaki's second Oscar win. This victory followed his earlier success where Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards held in 2003.