A Few Famous Fathers

Winnie the Pooh was created by A.A. Milne for his son Christopher Robin and based on the boy’s teddy bear, which he received on his first birthday. “Winnie” was the boy’s favorite bear at the London Zoo, which the father and son visited regularly, and “Pooh” was the name of Christopher Robin’s pet swan.

There’s a special bond between fathers and daughters, including those who share a talent. Frank and Nancy Sinatra are the only father-daughter collaboration to hit the enviable No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100, which they did in 1967 with their hit single “Something Stupid.”

“Isn’t She Lovely” was written by Stevie Wonder about his newborn daughter Aisha for his 1976 album. The splashing and objections near the end of the song – “Come on, Aisha. Get out of the water, baby.” – were recorded during a memorable moment they shared.

Dick Hoyt and his son Rick from Holland, Massachusetts, are known around the world for the 1,130 marathons, Ironman triathlons and other endurance events in which they competed as “Team Hoyt” until their last event, the 2014 Boston Marathon. Rick, who has cerebral palsy and communicates through a computer, inspired his father to become an athlete at age 36 when he typed “Dad, when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore!” after their first five-mile benefit race. Dick pushed his son in a wheelchair for running events, pulled him in a boat attached to a rope around his waist for swimming events and peddled from the back seat of a specially designed tandem bike for cycling events.

While the father of our country did not have biological children of his own, George Washington adopted his wife’s two children from her first marriage.