When was "Rip Van Winkle" written or published?

Rip Van Winkle was a short story written by Washington Irving under a pen name.  It was supposedly written when Irving was staying in England in the summer of 1818.  He had earlier in the day been reflecting on life back along the Hudson River Valley.  He mixed his real life experiences with an imaginative tale to create the story.  It was first published in 1819 in a work called The Sketch-Book.  This was a collection of short stories, including Rip Van Winkle.  Washington Irving published The Sketch-Book under the pen name Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.  The Sketch-Book became critically acclaimed during a time when there was little great American literature.  It was this publication that made Irving famous and launched him into a career as a renowned American writer.