Today back then.

1941 - On Bluebird Records, Ray Eberle and the Modernaires teamed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra to record "Moonlight Cocktail", which by April, 1942, would be a hit.

1961 - "Surfin’", the Beach Boys' first record, was released on Candix Records, becoming a local hit in Los Angeles, California, but only making it to #75 nationally in the Untied States. The surfing music craze wouldn't sweep across America for another year. By the time "Surfin’ Safari" hit Top 40, in September 1962, the Beach Boys were riding a wave of popularity.

1980 - Former Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, arrived at New York's Dakota, the apartment house in which they lived, after an early-evening recording session. As they walked through the apartment gates, a lone gunman stopped and fired five bullets into Lennon, killing him almost instantly. The gunman, a crazed fan named Mark David Chapman, did not attempt to escape and was immediately apprehended. Lennon's untimely death set off a week of worldwide mourning, and the murder was considered to be the most shocking in the history of rock music.