Regardless of age, Winnie the Pooh has touched many people and taught us invaluable life lessons over the years.
Even Walt Disney himself used to read the timeless Winnie the Pooh stories to his daughters, which inspired him to share them with children around the world.
Today is author A.A. Milne’s birthday, which marks Winnie the Pooh Day across the world.
So on this day of appreciation for the big yellow bear, here's everything you need to know about Pooh and the gang.
Was Winnie the Pooh a real bear?
Winnie was in fact an orphaned bear who was bought for $20 by a Lieutenant named Harry Colebourn in 1914. The soldier was raised in the city of Winnipeg, Canada, which explains where the fictional character's name originates from.
Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore were all toys belonging to the author’s son, Christopher Robin Milne. The young boy would beg his father to take him to London Zoo in order to see Winnie.
Christopher Robin decided to rename his bear from Edward to Winnie the Pooh. This was a combination of the bear’s name and the name he had given to a swan which he would feed regularly.
Not only was the original Winnie the Pooh a black bear but it was also female, as opposed to the male bear in the books.
Winnie passed away in 1934 at the age of 20, she has multiple statues commemorating her eventful life, both at London Zoo and Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo (in Colebourn’s hometown).
Was the Hundred Acre Wood a real place?
The forest where the characters all live, the Hundred Acre Wood (also named 100 Aker Wood), found inspiration from Ashdown Forest, which cradled A.A. Milne’s farmhouse in the Sussex countryside, England.
If you take a trip to Pooh Country in Hartfield, Sussex, you will be able to relive nostalgic childhood memories by playing Poohsticks on Pooh’s Corner or enjoying a snack at Piglet’s Tearoom.
Who illustrated the Winnie the Pooh books?
E.H. Shepard illustrated the books and found his inspiration for Winnie’s appearance in his son’s teddy, despite readers assuming it was a depiction of Christopher Robin’s teddy.
Best Winnie the Pooh quotes
- …never let things come to you, go out and fetch them
- It isn’t much good having anything exciting, if you can’t share it with somebody
- If the string breaks, try another piece of string
- A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference
- You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes
- Nobody could be uncheered by a balloon
- What's wrong with knowing what you know now and not knowing what you don’t know now until later?
- If people are upset because you've forgotten something, console them by letting them know you didn't forget, you just weren't remembering
- Love is taking a few steps backward, maybe even more… to give way to the happiness of the person you love
- If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you
