Beatles Fact of the Day

John Lennon was born to Julia and Freddie Lennon on October 9, 1940. Both Freddie and Julia were quite immature and incompetent as parents, and among other problems, their frustrations turned into an overwhelming sense of guilt for John. He was convinced that their problems were somehow his fault, and it stuck with him until the day he died. One substantial event in John's early years came when he was 5 years old.

His father had gone to war when he was younger, and his mother grew restless and found another man. When Freddie came back and found out about Julia's new life, he asked to take John on a vacation to Blackpool for a few weeks. She didn't put up a fight, so Freddie took John, intending never to come back. Freddie had planned to emigrate to New Zealand with John, and start a new life, but before they could, Julia came around looking for John, as they'd been gone more than a month. She demanded to take John back, and in a rash decision, afraid of losing his only child, Freddie asked Julia to let John choose who he'd rather live with. Remember, John was 5, being asked to choose between his mother and his father, both of whom he loved. Initially, John chose his father. His mother asked him if he was sure, and he said he was. Julia stormed out, and as she was driving away, John ran after her. That was the last Freddie saw of his son until he heard he had become a Beatle.