Washington Irving was born on April 3, 1783, in New York City. He was named after George Washington and even attended his presidential inauguration as a child in 1789. Using the pen name Jonathan Oldstyle, he wrote articles for the Morning Chronicle, which was edited by his older brother. He became a lawyer, but much preferred creative work. He wrote humorous and satirical pieces, edited the Analectic Magazine, and even served for a short time in the War of 1812.

In 1815, he went to England to help his brothers with a struggling business. Once the business failed, Irving wrote a collection of essays and stories that became The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Grayon, Gent. This book contained his most famous works, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and rocketed him to literary fame.

He wrote several other works, including A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, which he researched while living in Madrid. He also spent time visiting the western edges of America, which inspired his work A Tour on the Prairies. He returned to Europe as the U.S. minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846 before settling back in New York. He wrote several other works, mainly historical and biographical, before his death on November 28, 1859.