1980 – John Lennon is murdered

8 December

At around 10:50 pm on this day in 1980, as Lennon and Ono returned to their New York apartment in the Dakota, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times at the entrance to the building. Lennon was taken to the emergency room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:00 pm. Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman.

Ono issued a statement the next day, saying "There is no funeral for John", ending it with the words, "John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him." His body was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Ono scattered his ashes in New York's Central Park, where the Strawberry Fields memorial was later created. Chapman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life. As of 2015, he remains in prison, having been denied parole eight times.

P.S. Decided to go with an image from 1980 for the feature picture.

1982 – Michael Jackson's second solo album, 'Thriller' is released worldwide

30 November

Thriller is the sixth studio album (second solo) by the American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on this day in 1982, by Epic Records, as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Recording sessions took place on April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles,California with a production budget of $750,000, assisted by producer Quincy Jones.

Of the album's nine tracks, four were written by Jackson. Seven singles were released from the album, all of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Three of the singles had music videos released. "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life" were the only tracks that were not released as singles. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time, with estimate sales of 65 million copies worldwide according to various sources. In the United States, it also tied with the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) as the best-selling album at 29 million units shipped. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984, including for Album of the Year.