(Saturday, October 31, 1942) — “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra peaked at #1 on today’s Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart for the first of eleven weeks (Oct. 31, Nov. 7/14/21/28, Dec. 5/12/19/26, 1942, Jan. 2/9, 1943).

White Christmas was written by Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant to the United States, in 1940, introduced on Crosby’s NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day 1941, recorded May 29, 1942, in Los Angeles for Decca Records and released July 30, 1942, as part of an album of six 78-rpm songs from the film Holiday Inn.

It is the best-selling single of all time with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.