This post also appears today on The Beatles Plus 50.

On this day in 1966 John Lennon — DOB October 9, 1940 — celebrated his 26th birthday in Spain with his wife Cynthia, Ringo Starr, and Ringo’s wife Maureen. He’d been through a lot in barely a quarter-century; at an age when most people were just starting their careers, he was in a band that was more popular than Jesus.

Looking over Lennon’s bio just now, it struck me that his life was organized pretty neatly into decades. He was 20 when the Quarrymen became The Beatles in 1960; 30 when they broke up at the end of the 60s; and 40 when he died at the dawn of the 80s.

A cynic might say that Mark Chapman mercifully spared Lennon his “Dancing in the Street” moment, but you have to wonder what he would have done with the years he lost. He would have been 50 just as the 90s started, a beloved godfather to the Nirvana generation, and 60 at the turn of the millennium. He’d be turning 76 today if he’d made it this far. I picture him as a grumpy but lovable old man, still wearing those glasses, yelling at Beatles fans to get off his lawn.

Wikipedia informs me that October 9 is also Sean Lennon’s birthday. Born in 1975, Sean is now 41, an age his father never got to be. So Happy Birthday to him, and to John, and to all you Libras out there.

According to Cafe Astrology.com, if today is your birthday:

You are a study in contradictions. Although compassionate, humanitarian, and egalitarian at least in theory, you can also be domineering when the mood strikes you. Your moods and behavior swings can be frustrating for others (and for yourself!) at times, but they also help fuel your powerful creativity. You love debate and you have a way with words. You are not tolerant of narrow-minded thinking. You possess considerable strength of character, and partnership is extremely important to you. You live by your own truth.

In other words: You are John Lennon.