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Canada Fun Fact #2 – Winnie-the-Pooh was named after a Canadian City!

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Melanie

Canada Fun Fact #2 – Winnie-the-Pooh was named after a Canadian City!

September 25, 2010 by Melanie 4 Comments

Actually, the bear that inspired A.A. Milne to write the Winnie-the-Pooh stories was named after the Canadian city of Winnipeg!

 

 

Winnie-the-Pooh is a character in two children’s books, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, written by A.A.Milne in the 1920s.

In 1914, Harry Colebourn was a lieutenant in the Canadian army on his way to a training camp when he stopped in the town of White River, Ontario. There, he found an orphaned bear cub whose mother had been shot and killed by a hunter. Lt. Colebourn paid $20 for the cub and named her Winnie, after his hometown Winnipeg. The cub became the unofficial mascot of Lt. Colebourn’s regiment and she travelled with the regiment to England.

Lt. Colebourn had to leave Winnie behind in England when his regiment was sent to France during WWI. Winnie stayed at the London Zoo and became a popular attraction. When Lt. Colebourn finished his service in the war, he donated Winnie to the Zoo, where she lived until she died in 1934.

A.A. Milne often used to take his son Christopher Robin to the zoo, where they saw Winnie. Christopher Robin loved the bear so much he named his teddy bear after her and added ‘pooh’ to the name. A.A. Milne’s two books about Winnie-the-Pooh were inspired by Christopher Robin and his collection of stuffed animals!

This is a big deal in Canada! Not only was this story featured in a commercial (see the video at the top of this post), but the CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) also made a movie about it called “A Bear Named Winnie.”

 

Vocabulary:
an orphan
= a child with no parents (the parents have died)

a bear cub
= a baby bear or a young bear

a mascot
= a person, animal or object that is used to represent a team or other group and bring good luck!

a regiment
= a military unit, a very large group of soldiers

a big deal
= very important

 

Sources:
CBC News
Harry Colebourn (Wikipedia)
Winnie-the-Pooh (Wikipedia)

Filed Under: Blog, Canada Fun Facts!, Reading, Uncategorized Tagged With: animals, Canada

Comments

  1. ahmed says

    December 2, 2012 at 4:51 am

    the storey beautfuel

    Reply
  2. joza says

    May 15, 2013 at 11:32 am

    you have a wonderful website

    Reply
  3. Marie-Danielle O’Reilly says

    September 20, 2013 at 7:57 am

    I always learn something with your stories. I didn’t know that the word ” Winnie”comes from the Province named ” Winnipeg ” in Canada

    Reply
  4. Francesco says

    September 25, 2013 at 7:36 am

    Wow!
    I though Winnie derived from the endearment of a name contraction based on the homonimous First minister Winston (Churchill), as a different kind of Teddy Bear which, instead, originally came from the name of the US President Theodore (Roosevelt).

    Reply

Posted in Blog, Canada Fun Facts!, Reading, UncategorizedTagged Blog, Canada Fun Facts!, Reading, Uncategorized

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