On this date in 1958, Paddington Bear made his debut in the children’s book “A Bear Called Paddington.”
Here are some facts you may not have known about Paddington.
Paddington was created by Michael Bond, who saw a single teddy bear for sale on a shelf in a shop near Paddington Station in London. He wrote the first book in 10 days.
The book was illustrated by Peggy Fortnum.
Paddington is a spectacled bear who hails from “darkest Peru.”
In the story He arrived in London via lifeboat and was found in Paddington Station by the Brown family who live in nearby Notting Hill.
His Peruvian name is Patuso, which he says no one in England can understand, so the Browns call him Paddington after the station.
The first Paddington stuffed toy was made in 1972 by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, who gave the prototypes to their children, Joanna and Jeremy. Jeremy Clarkson would go on to become the host of the BBC car show “Top Gear.”
2014 saw the release of a combination animated and live action Paddington movie along with the latest Paddington book, “Love from Paddington.”. In 2015, Paddington Bear threw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game.
Our question, what is Paddington’s favorite food?
Today is International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction and also National Police Day in Thailand. In the United States it is unofficially National Yorkshire Pudding Day and National No Bra Day, designed to raise awareness of breast cancer. Instead of simply raising awareness of breast cancer, might I suggest making a donation toward research of metastatic breast cancer at metavivor.org
Today is also the birthday of comedians Lenny Bruce, Nipsey Russell and Sacha Baron Cohen.
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