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Showing posts with the label paul mccartney

Remembering Linda McCartney: Marking 25 Years Since the Photographer, Musician, and Cookbook Author's Death

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Today we're remembering the one-and-only Linda Louise McCartney (formerly Eastman), who we lost on this day 25 years ago following a three year battle with Breast Cancer. She was 56 at the time of her death. Credit: Manchester Daily Express/Getty Images McCartney's most famous work came from her career as a photographer, which begun in the mid-1960s after working as an editor and receptionist for  Town & Country  magazine. She was romantically involved with photographer David Dalton at the time, and would study how he did his work until she was able to set up her own shoots. Within a few years, she began to become a regular at the Fillmore East, a music venue located in New York City, where she was dubbed the unofficial house photographer. She would receive more and more assignments to photograph entertainers and musicians, which included The Animals, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, The Doors, Eric Clapton, Grace Slick, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Neil Young, Simo...

The Beatles' Four Asteroids

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On April 12, 1990, the Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts) announced that it would be naming Asteroids 4147, 4148, 4149, and 4150 to Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr respectively. All four of them are between 5 and 10 diameters, and were discovered in 1983 and 1984 by Brian A. Skiff and Dr. Edward L.G. Bowell. Both worked in the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona at the time. Credit: Apple Corps Ltd. "My colleague and I have been fans of the Beatles for 25 years or so, ever since their early days. We thought this would be an unusual distinction for them." Bowell says. He then goes on to add, "It is customary to name asteroids after distinguished scientists or Greek and Roman goddesses, but times are changing, and we think it is a fun thing to honor some other people we like and who we think have done nice things in the world." The two astronomers had discovered a...

When the Beatles' "Across the Universe" Was Sent Across the Universe

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 On February 1, 2008, US space agency NASA announced its decision to beam the Beatles' " Across the Universe " into space. It was the first song to be used as such.  Source: Harper Collins/Press Association The song was to be aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light-years away as a means to celebrate the song's 40th anniversary. It was officially beamed on the 4th through the deep space network, which is a series of giant radio antennas used to support spacecraft missions. Paul McCartney wrote to the space agency, stating: "Amazing! Well done, NASA. Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul." Yoko Ono also added a statement. "I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe." As a result of the event, fans have dubbed February 4 as Across the Universe Day. If you would like to read more on the event, you can check it out on NASA's website here . Happy listening!