Biography

Rip Van Winkle is a fictional character from the book Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. The story of Rip Van Winkle is set in pre-Revolutionary War New York, although  it is based on a German folktale. In the story, Rip Van Winkle, a farmer, wanders into the Catskill Mountains where he falls asleep for twenty years. When he awakes her returns to his town and realizes that his wife has died, his children have grown, and that the American Revolution has occurred and America has declared independence from England.