John Lennon Shot and Killed…..
December 8, 1980…..
Former Beatles member John-Lennon is killed by Mark David Chapman as he and Yoko Ono returned to their Manhattan apartment. Lennon had autographed an album for Chapman earlier that day. Chapman was angry at Lennon for remarks he had made years before stating that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and that Lennon in his song Imagine “told us to imagine no possessions and there he was, with millions of dollars and yachts and farms and country estates, laughing at people like me who had believed the lies and bought the records and built a big part of their lives around his music.”
A Charlie Brown Christmas…..
December 9, 1965…..
The first in a series of Peanuts television specials debuts. The show featured characters created by Charles M. Schulz, including Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and of course Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy. Nearly half of the American households that had a television set tuned in to watch. The production costs exceeded its meager budget of $76,000 by $20,000, but has earned millions as a seasonal staple of the Christmas television lineup.
Otis Redding Killed in Plane Crash…..
December 10, 1967…..
26-year-old Otis Redding is killed in a plane crash. He had just recorded the song (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay (1968) two days earlier. It was released after his death, becoming his only Billboard #1 hit and the first posthumously-released song to reach #1 on the U.S. charts.