Birthday: A.A. Milne

Today is, or would have been, the 131st birthday of author A.A. Milne.

If you don't know who A.A. Milne is, then I feel for you and am questioning what kind of childhood you had.

Milne wrote extensively throughout his life, publishing his first work in 1903 at the age of 21.  Milne wrote extensively for the magazine Punch, while also writing short stories, novels, poems, and plays.  He wrote in many different genres, for both adults and children, and was kind of rather awesome.  What he is most known for, however, is his Winnie the Pooh stories.  As the story goes, Milne's son, Christopher Robin Milne, had a collection of stuffed animals, one a bear named Edward.  Then one day Milne and his son went to the London Zoo where they saw a Canadian black bear named Winnie, which Christopher Robin renamed his bear after.  Milne then began to write stories about the adventures of Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Christopher Robin's other toys, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit, and Tigger.

And so, despite the fact that he's been dead for 57 years, and Christopher Robin for 17, today is A.A. Milne's birthday, and he would have been 131.