History Highlight:

1980 - John Lennon was shot five times by 25-year -old Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in New York City where John and Yoko lived. Chapman had been stalking Lennon for days outside the Dakota apartments and asked for an autograph as Lennon walked through the courtyard. As he signed a piece of paper Chapman fired. Lennon was pronounced dead from a massive loss of blood at 11:30pm.

Also, Today in:

1961 - The Beach Boys first single "Surfin'" was released by a small label in California. On the strength of the song's performance in the Southern California market, Capitol Records signed the group. Other surfing songs would follow: "Surfin' Safari," "Surfin' U.S.A.,"and "Surfer Girl."

1963 - Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped at gunpoint from a hotel in Lake Tahoe. He was released two days later after his father paid out the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers, who were later captured, and sentenced to long prison terms. In order to communicate with the kidnappers via a payphone the senior Sinatra carried a roll of dimes with him throughout this ordeal, which became a lifetime habit, he is said to have been buried with a roll of dimes.

2013 - The electric guitar played by Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival has been sold at auction in New York for a record $965,000. The Fender Stratocaster had been in the possession of a New Jersey family for 48 years after he left it on a plane. The festival in Newport, Rhode Island, is often cited as the performance where Dylan "went electric".

Birthdays:

Jim Morrison, the charismatic singer and songwriter for the 1960 rock group the Doors until his death in a Paris bathtub at age 27. He was born today in 1943