1800s: St. Nicholas, as he is often referred to in Europe, was usually depicted wearing bishop’s robes until the early 1800s.

1823: “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” which today is known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas” was written by Clement Clarke Moore. The English-speaking world can trace most of what it knows and loves about Santa Claus back to this poem. According to Moore, St. Nick has a sleigh, enters houses through the chimney, and has a bag full of toys. He is not, however, depicted as a large man – but instead – a small elf with a ‘miniature sleigh.’

1863: The image of Santa Claus as a heavy-set man in a red and white suit came courtesy of Thomas Nast. Nast was an American political cartoonist who featured this new-look Santa on the cover of “Harper’s Weekly.”

1902: With the story of Santa Claus still open to interpretation in the early 20th Century, L. Frank Baum pens “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.” In it, Baum explores Santa's childhood, writing that he was raised in the forest by fairies, wood nymphs, gnomes, and other magical creatures.

1930s: Santa Claus is commercialized. Jolly Saint Nick, illustrated by Haddon Sundblom for a Coca Cola ad campaign, is the image most North Americans associate with Santa Claus. Although this was not the first time Santa was used in an ad, it is perhaps the most famous.

1939: Santa had help guiding his sleigh from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, a character created by Robert L. May for retailer Montgomery Ward. By 1964, NBC had created its own Christmas special which featured a stop-motion animation Santa, reindeer, and elves. This show has been televised every December and is the longest-running Christmas special. (NBC photo)

1947: Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for his role as Santa Claus in the Christmas movie classic “Miracle on 34th Street.” The movie, which stars a young Natalie Wood, also won an Oscar for Best Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture. (Fox Image)

1964: Two full years before the dawn of the “Star Trek” franchise, the cheesy sci-fi classic “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” was born. (Jalor Productions)

1983: A mall Santa crushes the dreams of poor Ralphie Parker in “A Christmas Story” after the kid requests a BB gun for Christmas. Jeff Gillen , who plays the big guy in the movie, famously quips: “You'll shoot your eye out, kid. Merry Christmas! Ho, ho, ho!" before kicking him down a slide. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

1984: “Silent Night Deadly Night,” about a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus, was one of the most controversial films of the 80s. When the movie was released in 1984, parents protested it and critics condemned it. Leonard Martin gave it zero stars and asked “What's next, the Easter Bunny as a child molester?” (TriStar Pictures)

1993: Director Tim Burton introduces us to his animated masterpiece “The Nightmare Before Christmas” where a skeleton from Halloween Town sneaks into Christmas Town and abducts Santa. (Walt Disney Pictures)

1994: In “The Santa Clause,” Tim Allen plays a divorced dad who, through some very unusual circumstances, turns into Santa Claus, saves Christmas and wins back his son’s respect. (Walt Disney Pictures)

1999: In the Christmas episode of “Futurama,” we are introduced to Robot Santa – a machine invented in 2801 to determine who had been naughty or nice over the year. A programming glitch set his expectations too high and turned Robot Santa into a Christmas Eve killing machine. (20th Century Fox Television)

2003: In “Bad Santa,” Billy Bob Thornton plays Willie Stokes, a cranky, alcoholic mall Santa who disables the security system and steals merchandise every Christmas Eve. (Dimension Films photo)

2005: “Santa’s Slay,” a comedy/horror flick featuring Bill Goldberg as a deranged St. Nick, is released. In it, Santa Claus kills at least 35 people with various weapons – including one very sharp candy cane. The movie does not create the firestorm of controversy that the other Santa horror “Silent Night, Deadly Night” created back in the ‘80s. (Media 8 Entertainment)