"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" is a well-known line from an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church titled "Is There a Santa Claus?", which appeared in the New York newspaper The Sun on September 21, 1897. Written in response to a letter by eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon asking whether Santa Claus was real, the editorial was initially published anonymously and Church's authorship was not disclosed until after his 1906 death. After its initial publication, it was quickly reprinted by other newspapers. As the editorial became increasingly popular over the years, The Sun began republishing it during the Christmas and holiday season, including every year from 1924 until the paper ceased publication in 1950. "Is There a Santa Claus?" is still widely reprinted during the holiday season and has been cited as the most reprinted newspaper editorial in the English language. It has been translated into around 20 languages and adapted as television specials, a film, a musical, and a cantata.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1913:
Seventy-three people were crushed to death in a stampede after someone falsely yelled "fire" at a crowded Christmas party in Calumet, Michigan, U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Hall_disaster
1918:
Forces united in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes defeated Hungarian forces to end the occupation of Međimurje. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_occupation_of_Me%C4%91imurje
1953:
A railway bridge at Tangiwai on New Zealand's North Island was damaged by a lahar and collapsed beneath a passenger train (wreckage pictured), killing 151 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangiwai_disaster
2008:
The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, began attacks on several villages in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing hundreds and committing numerous atrocities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Christmas_massacres
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
alcoholiday: 1. A holiday or leisure time spent drinking alcohol. 2. (rare) A period of time during which one intentionally abstains from drinking alcohol. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alcoholiday
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
But often, in the world’s most crowded streets, But often, in the din of strife, There rises an unspeakable desire After the knowledge of our buried life; A thirst to spend our fire and restless force In tracking out our true, original course; A longing to inquire Into the mystery of this heart which beats So wild, so deep in us, to know Whence our lives come and where they go. --Matthew Arnold https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Arnold