John Winston Lennon was born on October 9th, 1940 in Liverpool, England. Lennon joined Howard Cosell in 1974 to discuss American football. Listening to him you can tell he was a great sports fan. Then in 1980 Howard Cosell makes the awful announcement to the world that John Lennon was was killed by a gunman. "Shot twice in the back; rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival.