Celebrate John Lennon’s 74th Birthday With A Medley Of Unusual Facts About The Former Beatle

Today marks the birthday of John Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon, October 8, 1940) and we celebrate his life and legacy with some unusual facts on what would have been his 74th year.

THE LOCATION OF HIS REMAINS IS UNKNOWN

After his murder on December 8, 1980, Yoko Ono had Lennon’s remains cremated. It is speculated that some of his ashes may have been spread at Strawberry Fields, an area of Central Park that Lennon often visited.  The exact location, however, has never been disclosed.

JOHN CLAIMS TO HAVE SEEN A UFO

Standing stark naked on the terrace of his Manhatten apartment on August 23, 1974, Lennon observed a UFO hovering overhead. He summoned his secretary May Pang, who also claims to have seen the flying saucer. Pang phoned the police, who said they’d been receiving calls from others in the neighborhood reporting the sighting.  Lennon then dressed.

John Lennon Was An Unusual Dude. Happy 74th John! pic.twitter.com/3WdlVu6Zre

— Andrew Lopata (@androozbrane) October 9, 2014

LENNON AND McCARTHY RECORDED TOGETHER AFTER THE BEATLES BREAKUP

On March 28, 1974, Lennon and McCartney had their only post-Beatles recording session.  Known as “the lost weekend”, He and Yoko Ono had separated when he and assistant/lover May Pang flew to L.A.and  recorded with McCarthy, David Bowie, Elton John and Mick Jagger.

LENNON AND McCARTHY ALMOST REUNITED ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

The last time McCartney saw Lennon was on April 24, 1976.  The story is told that the two watched ‘Saturday Night Live,’ during which Lorne Michaels (riffing off the then-fervent demand for a Beatles reunion) jokingly offered the Beatles $3,000 to perform live. The two Beatles briefly considered heading to NBC for a surprise performance. The near-reunion was explored in the film ‘Two of Us.’ George Harrison later appeared on SNL as a joke to “collect” the reward but was told my Michaels that it was for FOUR Beatles and that meant it was only $750 for one person.

LENNON GOT DRUNK AND WAS THROWN OUT OF A CLUB FOR HECKLING

During the previously mentioned “lost weekend”, John and his partner in crime Harry Nielsson were drinking heavily and stopped and the famous LA nightspot, The Troubedour.  As both men had a tendency for raucous behavior in the company of each other, they were summarily asked to leave after heckling during a performance by the The Smothers Brothers.

HE WANTED TO WRITE A BOOK OF STORIES FOR CHILDREN

Lennon was an avid writer of short stories and poetry. He penned three books in his lifetime: ‘In His Own Write,’ ‘A Spaniard in the Works,’ and ‘Skywriting by Word Of Mouth,’ which was published posthumously in 1986. In numerous interviews, Lennon said he hoped to write a book of children’s stories when he was old and retired from music.

DYSLEXIC AND LEGALLY BLIND, HE NEVER LEARNED TO DRIVE WELL

In his later years, Lennon discovered that he was dyslexic and his eyesight was so poor that, without his glasses, he was legally blind.  As such, he never learned to drive or at least drive well.

He was regarded as a terrible driver by all who knew him and finally gave up driving after he totaled his Aston-Martin in 1969 on a trip to Scotland with his wife, Yoko Ono, his son, Julian, and Kyoko, Yoko’s daughter.  John needed 17 stitches after the accident.  When they returned to England, John and Yoko mounted the wrecked car on a pillar at their home. From then on, John always used a chauffeur or driver.

 JOHN LENNON LOVED TO BAKE BREAD

In a 1980 interview with NPR’s David Sheff, Lennon explained his extraordinary relationship with baked good and his pleasure from sharing it with family and friends. “I took a Polaroid photo of my first loaf. I was overjoyed, you know. I was that excited by it. I couldn’t believe it, it was like an album coming out of the oven on the instant. And every day I was cooking lunch for the staff-drivers, office boys, anybody who was working. Come on up! I love it!” He also described his bread to BBC at the time, saying, “It looked great, you know, and it tasted good—that was pretty damned good.”