What do Bugs Bunny, Brad Pitt and James Bond all have in common? Winnipeg – of course! Learn more about these famous names and many other interesting people, places and things that put Winnipeg on the map.

In 1970, American Woman, by Winnipeg’s The Guess Who, topped international music charts and was the number-one selling single in the world. That year, they sold more albums than any other band including The Beatles and The Doors.

Winnipeg is home to one of the largest communities of French Canadians west of the Great Lakes.

In 1914, WWI Captain Harry Colebourn took a black bear he named Winnie (after his hometown Winnipeg) to England as his Regiment’s mascot. When he shipped out to France, he donated the bear to the London Zoo. Author A.A. Milne’s son Christopher so loved the bear that Milne crafted stories about his boy and the bear, “Winnie the Pooh.”

Winnipeg’s Union Station was designed by the same architects responsible for New York’s Grand Central Station.

The Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art won the Special Prize at the renowned Venice Bienniale in 2001, a first and only win of its kind for Canada.

Winnipeg’s Exchange District is designated as a National Historic Site by the Canadian Government due to its rich collection of turn-of-the-last-century terracotta and stone cut buildings, unrivalled in all of North America. This is the area where Shall We Dance? and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford were filmed.

Winnipeg produces over 25,000 pounds of gold medal-winning Golden Caviar and sells it worldwide to some of the best restaurants.

The Second World War’s most famous spymaster – William Stephenson, the man called Intrepid – was the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s 007. He was born and raised in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg was the first city in the world to develop the 911 emergency phone number.

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, headquartered in Winnipeg, is the first national Aboriginal network in the world.

The newly-named Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport was the first international airport in Canada.