Clergyman and scholar, Clement Clarke Moore, born in New York in 1779, became a household name in the USA by writing the most famous holiday poem in America's history. This poem, originally entitled "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," published in Troy, New York, on December 23, 1823, is now known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." This poem shaped the public view of Saint Nicholas: giving him a big, round belly, a hearty laugh, and a reindeer-drawn sleigh that carries him around the world.