A.A. Milne

January 18

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On this date in 1882, classic children's author Alan Alexander Milne, known as A.A. Milne, was born in England and brought up in London. With his brothers he attended his schoolteacher father's school, Henley House. One of his influential teachers there was H.G. Wells. Attending Cambridge on a mathematics scholarship, Milne was given the gift of 1000 pounds by his father upon graduation. He used it to move back to London and become a writer. Milne freelanced for newspapers, became part of "Punch's" staff, and wrote a book that flopped, Lovers in London. In 1913 he married Dorothy De Selincourt. In 1915 he volunteered in WWI, and, while serving, wrote his first play. His only child, Christopher, was born in 1920. When We Were Young was published in 1924, followed by Winnie the Pooh (1926), The House at Pooh Corner (1926) and Now We Are Six (1927). Milne subsequently wrote several plays, a detective novel and Year In, Year Out (1952). D. 1956.
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“The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief—call it what you will—than any book ever written; it has emptied more churches than all the counter-attractions of cinema, motor bicycle and golf course.”

—A.A. Milne, cited in 2,000 Years of Disbelief by James A. Haught