10 things you didn’t know about Winnie-the-Pooh!

However old you are, we can almost guarantee that the loveable stories of Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and the not so friendly looking Heffalumps made their way into your bedtime stories!

The 18th of January, which marks the birthday of Pooh’s author A.A Milne is now celebrated worldwide as Winnie the Pooh Day in his honour. So, to help celebrate the stories of the yellow honey loving bear, we have rounded up a few (10 to be precise) facts that we are sure you will love!

• The boy in the Winnie the Pooh stories, Christoper Robin, was named after A.A Milnes son, Christopher Robin Milne.
• Winnie the Pooh is actually a girl! The real life Winnie was a female black bear from Winnipeg, Canada. Her owner, Harry Colebourn, bought her to England during WW1 where she lived in London Zoo! There is even a statue commemorating Lt. Colebourn and Winnie at ZSL London Zoo.

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• The original Pooh teddy bear was bought from Harrods in London by A.A Milne for his son’s, Christopher Robin’s first birthday. 
• Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet were ALL Robin’s toys too!
• The bear was originally called Edward before Robin renamed the bear after his favourite zoo animal Winnie and a Swan named Pooh he saw on holiday.
• The 100 Acre Wood in the Winnie the Pooh Book is based on the Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest, Sussex. 
• Every year in June there is a World Poohsticks Championship that all ages can participate in! The first annual Poohsticks Championship was held in 1984 to raise money for the RNLI.
• Pooh has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! 
• Some of the most famous tales of Winnie the Pooh and friends started as Milne’s bedtime stories to Christopher.
• The first published Winnie the Pooh story was in the London Evening News on Christmas Eve 1925.

Let us know how you will be celebrating Winnie the Pooh Day! Whether it’s eating some honey, having a mini Poohsticks championship or doing nothing with your favourite people, because we all know Pooh LOVED doing nothing, we wish you all a happy Winnie the Pooh Day!

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

—Winnie the Pooh