"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>
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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>
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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>
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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>