John Lennon Remembered On His 74th Birthday

I remember where I was the day John Lennon was shot. Today he would have been 74. An iconic musician and one of the worlds best know celebrities. Lennon was nothing if not controversial. And a hell of a musician. Born October 9, 1940 at the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, the musician went on to become one of the most famous people in the world, who remains an icon to this day.  His music, and that of his bandmates, living on today. Here are some things that you might not of known about the amazing musician."Imagine" had he been alive today.

1) At the tender age of seven Lennon was already showing his artistic talents. As a pupil at Dovedale Primary School, he created a magazine called ‘Sport, Speed and Illustrated’, which was ‘Edited and Illustrated by J. W. Lennon’

2) The first instrument Lennon learned how to play was the harmonica.

3) Before the Beatles, Lennon formed a band called the Blackjacks but the name was later changed to The Quarrymen.

4) The band often practised in the bathroom, with Lennon in the bathtub.

5) Although it's now one of their much-loved hits, when the Beatles' debut single ‘Love Me Do’ was released in October 1962, it only reached number 17 in the charts.

6) Lennon was a big fan of Monopoly and regularly played it on tour.

7) He met his second wife Yoko Ono, in Indica Gallery - a bookshop and art gallery in St James’s, London, in 1966.

8) When Lennon passed his driving test, aged 25, it made headline news.

9) Four years later he crashed his Austin Maxi into a ditch, in the Scottish highlands and needed 17 stitches.

10) In June 1980 - six months before his death - Lennon survived a storm while at sea in the Bermuda Triangle.