Everyone knows who Santa is; he makes dreams come true. Kids worldwide look forward to Christmas because Santa will come and deliver their gifts on Christmas Eve. Although everyone knows who Santa is and what he does, do you know where he originated?

Freshman Olive Anne Arnette states that she “thought he came from Germany and that he obviously gave me gifts.” Well, the myth of Santa was inspired by the monk St. Nicholas born around 280 A.D. But the actual tale of Santa Clause was made by a man named Thomas Nast. He put the idea of the cartoon Santa Clause in an American Magazine, Harper’s Weekly.

Nast continued to draw the image of Santa for 30 years and gradually changed the color of his coat to red to match his holiday. Because of the influence of Santa Clause, kids around the world to behave year-round to hopefully get gifts on Christmas morning to avoid looking in their stockings and seeing coal.