Born December 6, 1809. Washington Irving (1783-1859) published A History of New York from the beginning of the World to the end of the Dutch Dinasty, a rigorous satire on history and politics. But before putting the work on sale, he conducted a curious and effective campaign.

The book was written under the pseudonym of Diedrich Knickerbock. And after writing, he announced the disappearance of a Dutch historian invented by himself in every media in New York. He took a room in a hotel, left there the manuscript of the book and wrote a note signed by Knickerbock, in which the hotel owners were allowed to publish the document and to pay with their profits the hotel account in case something happened to the non-existent historian.

A mystery issue aroused the curiosity of the people of New York and finally, by publishing the work, it had a great success in sales. Irving's malicious marketing game had an unbeatable result. In addition to sales, the work received excellent reviews; with tricks, the book was good. Even when what had actually happened was discovered, the people of New York did not appear, apparently, to have suffered a worsening. Immediately, the term knickerbocker began to be used to designate the heirs of the Dutch settlers who created New York and, over time, became the nickname for all the inhabitants of New York.

So in 1946, when the Basketball Association of America was founded, the NBA antecedent, the New York basketball team was renamed Knickerbockers. And it still has the same name today, although Knicks is better known for his abbreviation.