today is the 200th anniversary of the publication of a poem sent anonymously to a newspaper called the Troy Sentinel in Troy, NY (very near to where i was married).
it was called "An Account of a Visit From Saint Nicholas". you may have heard of it; it begins, 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...
it's commonly attributed to Clement Clark Moore, but the authorship was disputed, and to my mind, is still in question. the whole thing was super sketchy!
you can see copies of the original online, and two of the reindeer bore the names, Dunder and Blixem, which is old Dutch for thunder and lightning. Dunder maybe should have been Donder? (that's how i learned it in the olden days, lol), and eventually the German Donner and Blitzen were substituted. because, apparently, the Dutch can't have nice things.
and that, dear friends, is what my two youngest daughters call, "useless trivia with mom"