Nowadays Olive Can't Even Write

In 2008, a piece of paper with the handwritten lyrics for the John Lennon-penned " Give Peace a Chance " sold for $790,000 at auction after being estimated to be worth about $400,000 or so. Credit: Christie's/The Canadian Press The owner, author Gail Renard was given the lyrics when she was sixteen years old by Lennon during he and Yoko Ono's bed-in against the Vietnam War at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada. Renard was with them for all eight days, helping to keep fans and press controlled and looking after Ono's five-year-old daughter, Kyoko. She also had a hand in the first recording for the song, among many other guests, including Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers, Petula Clark, and Alan Ginsberg.  She credits Lennon for kicking off her career, with one of her first paid submissions being an interview they had set up.  If you are interested in learning more about her eight day experience, she talks in-depth about it in her book, titled John Lennon: Gi...

 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!

42 years ago, on the night December 8, 1980, the world was sent into shock by the unexpected death of John Lennon. Lennon was assassinated by Mark David Chapman, who had him autograph a copy of "Double Fantasy" almost six hours beforehand as he and then-wife Yoko Ono were leaving The Dakota, the apartment complex where they resided, and later returned to at 10:50 PM. As they were entering the building, Chapman shot him a total of four times (twice in the back, twice in the shoulder) at close range. He was rushed to the hospital in the back of a police cruiser and announced dead on arrival at 11:15 PM. Source: AP Photo The following morning, Yoko Ono issued a statement reading "There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean." Many of the following details covering the aftermath of John Lennon's Death have been highly disputed, as many different versions of the event's timeline as well as...