++ [ originally posted by Erik
] ++
Oh that's cheap, that
He is not the same man as Santa Claus, mind you. This is Sinterklaas, his birthday is on the 5th of December. The Dutch settlers who went to America, took this tradition with them. The Americans saw it, loved it, made him a little fatter and gave him a slightly different costume and voilà: Santa Claus who came at Christmas was born!