The Untold Truth Of Santa Claus

In or around the year 270 A.D., a man called Nicholas was born somewhere in Turkey. Coincidence the first: Christmas turkeys. Anyway, according to NBC News, Nicholas became a bishop as a young man, which must have pleased the hell out of his mom. He then became locally famous for anonymously paying the dowries of girls from poor families. Apparently anonymity was hard, since he became famous for it.

Nicholas was also known for leaving coins or other treats in the shoes of local children, and eventually the little punks came to expect it and would leave their shoes out on purpose in the hope of finding something good inside them the next day.

In traditional images, Nicholas is usually portrayed wearing a red cloak, much like our modern Santa only more bishopy. He is also said to have had a small orphan boy working as his helper, who was more or less the first elf.

Nicholas died on December 6, which is well within the season of holiday shopping frenzy, and was shortly thereafter canonized as the patron saint of children. After his death, people honored him each year with a December 6 feast and carried on the tradition of leaving gifts in children's shoes.

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