Who created Winnie-the-Pooh?
Winnie-the-Pooh was created by English author A.A. Milne, with illustrations by E.H. Shepard. The first book, Winnie-the-Pooh, was published in 1926, followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.
Milne based the stories on his son, Christopher Robin Milne, and his son's stuffed toys, including a teddy bear, a donkey, a piglet and a tiger.
The name Winnie came from a real black bear called Winnipeg, which lived at London Zoo and was named after the Canadian city.
The Hundred Acre Wood
The stories are set in the Hundred Acre Wood, based on Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, near the Milnes' country home.
Poohsticks, a game in which players drop sticks from a bridge into a stream and see whose emerges first, first appeared in The House at Pooh Corner. The original Poohsticks Bridge is in Ashdown Forest.
Disney acquired rights to the characters and began making Winnie the Pooh films in the 1960s, making Pooh famous worldwide.
The original stuffed toys are displayed at the New York Public Library. Christopher Robin later had mixed feelings about his fame.