Diedrich Knickerbocker

Diedrich Knickerbocker is an American literary character who originated from Washington Irving's first novel, A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809). He is a Dutch-American historian who is dressed in eighteenth-century breeches, which would later return to fashion as knickerbockers, later shortened to knickers. The word knickerbocker is also used to refer to people who live in Manhattan, and was adopted in a shortened form as the Knicks by the city's NBA professional basketball team.

In 1809, Washington Irving wrote his first novel, A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker. It was a satire of the politics of the day and history books. To promote the book he started a hoax by contacting various newspapers in New York City that "well-known Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker had disappeared from his hotel". Irving informed people that if Mr. Knickerbocker remained absent he would publish a manuscript that the man had left behind. Many people at the time believed the story and when Irving finally revealed it was all made up he gained enough local fame to help his book become an instant success, practically launching his literary career.

One of Irving's friends was actually named Knickerbocker: Herman Knickerbocker (1779–1855). Herman Knickerbocker, in turn, was of the upstate Knickerbocker clan, which descended from a single immigrant ancestor, Harmen Jansen van Wijhe Knickerbocker. Jansen van Wijhe invented the name upon arriving in New Amsterdam and signed a document with a variant of it in 1682.

A popular daily newspaper serving Albany, NY was named the Knickerbocker News for the region's Dutch heritage and Irving's character. It ran from 1843 to 1988, when it was merged with the Times Union.