Toronto's Ryerson University will host an exhibition this fall that explores the real-life backstory behind Winnipeg's famous Winnie-the-Pooh.
Canadian soldier Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian, bought a bear cub for 20 dollars from a trapper in White River, Ontario, in 1914 and took it to England at the onset of the First World War.
Naming it Winnie after his hometown of Winnipeg, Colebourn went on to donate the bear to the London Zoo where it served as the inspiration for English author A.A. Milne's classic children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, published in 1926.
Colebourn's wartime diaries, never previously displayed, will be a highlight of the exhibition.
