![](https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/AUG-17-KNICK-INSIDE.jpg)
Washington Irving, famous for Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and other characters, made his name with fictional funnyman Diedrich Knickerbocker, in a History of New York. (Everett Collection Historical/Alamy Stock Photo; Photo illustration by Paul Fisher )
Everett Collection Historical/Alamy Stock Photo; Photo illustration by Paul Fisher