1821-SANTA CLAUS BORN - This day the poem "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" was printed in the Troy Centinal a New York newspaper. Although it was published anonymously, a few years later a bible school teacher, the Reverand Clement Clarke Moore, claimed authorship.In 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus -- showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa. For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (commonly called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa -- an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world
