Written on the painting was a single word. That word was: "John Lennon I have been sent from the future and you must break up the Beatles to prevent the formation of a computer which will murder us all."

“Beatle John Lennon married his Japanese mistress, Yoko Ono, in a civil ceremony today in Gibraltar, the Beatles’ office announced.”

That was how the Associated Press began its article on the wedding between avant-garde artist Yoko Ono and the singer-songwriter John Lennon on this day 45 years ago: March 20, 1969.

The fact that the phrase “Japanese mistress” was used in a newspaper article is startling, especially considering that in 1969,

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