The American Revolution.
In the story by Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle fell asleep while "the country was yet a province of Great Britain", likely sometime between 1769-1774, and awakes twenty years later, when George Washington is the nation's first president.
Here are some things that changed while Rip Van Winkle was in his "deep sleep"
After Rip awakens from his long sleep and returns to the village, he does not recognize the people he encounters. But not only their faces are new but also their fashions and the look of the village: It is larger, with rows of houses he had never seen. His own house is in a shambles now with no one living in it, and the inn he frequented is a hotel. His wife and old Vedder are dead. Others left the village and never came back. Everything is different, it seems; nothing is as it was. There has even been a revolutionary war in which America gained its independence from England and became a new country.
Rip Van Winkle missed the American Revolutionary War during his twenty-year nap. This war marked the colonies' fight for independence from British rule.
Rip Van Winkle fell asleep drinking whiskey with the ghosts of Henry Hudson's crew
Rip Van Winkle was created in 1819.
Rip Van Winkle
Wolf is Rip Van Winkle's Dog
Rip Van Winkle Bridge was created in 1935.
Rip van Winkle - Hellsing - was created in 2001.
Rip Van Winkle fell asleep for 20 years.
The cast of Rip Van Winkle - 1908 includes: Hobart Bosworth as Rip Van Winkle Betty Harte
Rip Van Winkle is a fictional character created by American author Washington Irving, and there is no specific birth date provided for him in the story. "Rip Van Winkle" was published in 1819.
Dame Van Winkle
The Rip Van Winkle Caper was created on 1961-04-21.
Rip Van Winkle falls asleep in the Mountains!
Michael Tabor and Susan Magnier own the Rip Van Winkle trademark.