The Netherlands celebrates the birthday of Saint Nicholas on the 5th of December. The legend of Saint Nicholas is very old and very few Dutch people know its actual history. It's a very popular tradition and in recent years it's becoming more popular than ever. In many other countries we have the legend of Santa. Again many don't know its true history. It may or may not surprise you that both are actually the same figure. It seems that Dutch settlers brought the legend of Saint Nicholas to the US and from the US Santa spread to other countries.

There is a very cool webpage in which you can read all about it. First you'll read the history of Saint Nicholas and how the Dutch are celebrating his birthday. Finally (as a seperate link at the bottom of that page) you can read how it came to the US and why both stories differ in detail. Of course the history of both is more complex and you can read about German, English and Scandinavian influences that made Santa what he is today.