<em>Time</em> Posts Previously Unreleased John Lennon Photos on Anniversary of His Death

Today (December 8) marks the 31-year anniversary of the tragic death of John Lennon.

The ex-Beatle was shot and killed December 8, 1980, at age 40 in New York by a man named Mark David Chapman at the entry to the building where he lived. His passing happened just three weeks after the release of his album, Double Fantasy, which was the first album Lennon had released since his son was born in 1975.

In honor of Lennon, Time Light Box – consisting of the photo editors of Time magazine – has posted previously unseen images of John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their “Bed-In” for peace at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel in June of 1969. The striking main shot shows Tommy Smothers (an unknown friend), John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Rosemary Leary and Timothy Leary. Check out the gallery here.

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McCartney & Lennon Really Did Almost Reunite

Paul McCartney has confirmed that he and John Lennon almost reunited on American TV in the ‘70s.

The Daily Express reports that McCartney was visiting his Beatle buddy in New York when Lennon said they should take up an offer to appear on the TV show,  Saturday Night Live.

McCartney told Access Hollywood: “He said, 'we should go down, just you and me... we'll say, 'there's only two of us, we'll make half the money...' and for a second...”

The reunion, however, failed to happen. "It would have been work and we were having a night off and so we elected to not go... It was a nice idea. We nearly did it."
McCartney also told Quiteus.com that he’s interested in working with Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz fame: "We have kind of talked. Nothing serious, but I like what they do. I have run into Damon at things and we have talked. It's got near a couple of times but we never had the time, I suppose."

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Ancestors of Lennon and McCartney Revealed in New Records

More than 500 years worth of Liverpool, England’s historical documents are now available online, shedding light on the ancestors of Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney – their baptisms, marriages and other public records.

Available for the first time today via Ancestry.co.uk, the collection includes upwards of three million documents, among them the records of each of Lennon’s grandparents’ baptisms and their marriage, as well as McCartney’s grandparents’ marriage record.

“While these records are hugely significant to anyone with Liverpudlian roots, they will also be of huge interest to anyone tracing Irish ancestry – with recent research revealing Liverpool has the strongest Irish heritage of any English city,” said historian Annabel Bernhardt-Reeves to the Liverpool Daily Post.

“As well as having vast historical and genealogical value, these records are also incredibly interesting from a cultural perspective, detailing the heritage of two of the biggest stars the country has ever produced – John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Our researchers didn’t know who they would uncover when digging around in these records, and were thrilled when they uncovered half of the members of the legendary band The Beatles – two of Liverpool’s most famous exports.”

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