It is, perhaps, the most famous editorial ever written. One that has been reprinted year in, year out in newspapers around the world. It first appeared in the Sept. 20, 1897, edition of the New York Sun as a response to a letter from a little girl just 8 years old. The girl, Virginia O’Hanlon, wanted to know the answer to a question many young people ask when Christmas comes around.

The question was answered for all time by one of the newpaper’s editor, Francis Pharcellus Church, who had been a famous war correspondent.

The letter, and the answer, appear below: