On what date was the first Winnie the Pooh story published in a newspaper?

The first Winnie-the-Pooh story published in a newspaper appeared on 24 December 1925.

The story was a Christmas Eve feature commissioned and published by London's Evening News. It introduced Winnie-the-Pooh by name and was later adapted as the opening chapter of A. A. Milne's book Winnie-the-Pooh. The newspaper appearance therefore came before the book's publication in 1926.

This date is sometimes confused with 14 October 1926, which is the publication date of the first Winnie-the-Pooh story collection. Another earlier milestone was Milne's 1924 poem “Teddy Bear,” in which Christopher Robin's bear was called Edward rather than Winnie-the-Pooh.

The name Winnie came from a real black bear at London Zoo, whose name referenced Winnipeg. “Pooh” came from a swan mentioned in Milne's earlier poetry collection When We Were Very Young. Thus, 24 December 1925 marks the newspaper debut of the character's familiar literary name, not the first appearance of every element later associated with him.