Reading “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” has become a ritual for millions. Who actually wrote the poem, however, is the question.

The beloved poem was first published on Dec. 23, 1823, as an anonymous submission to the Sentinel newspaper in Troy, N.Y. Though authorship is commonly attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, a seminary professor from New York City, an increasing number of scholars think the actual author was Henry Livingston, a self-styled poet and farmer from upstate New York.

In the two centuries since it first appeared, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” has become a sweeping part of American Christmas culture. Santa’s eight reindeer (save for Rudolph) were named for the first time in the poem, and many scholars cite its influence on perceptions of Santa Claus in the years s

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