9 October 1940 – Birth of John Lennon , English singer, songwriter, musician, and the dominant personality of the Beatles.

John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool, England on October 9, 1940 during a blitzkrieg attack by the German Luftwaffe. His parents were Julia and Arthur "Freddie" Lennon, and the middle name of "Winston" was given to John in honor of Winston Churchill. Alfred was in the merchant marine and was largely absent from Lennon's early years, although he reappeared after the Beatles had become mega-famous. By 1944, Julia was pregnant with another man's baby, and Julia's sister Mimi threatened to call Social Services unless John was handed over to her care. John lived with his Aunt Mimi and her husband, George Smith, until his late teens. (His childhood home at Mendips on Menlove Avenue, where he lived with his Aunt Mimi, can be seen in the photograph below.) It was George Smith who gave John his first harmonica.

Read more