does anybody know the story behind like.. santa, the tooth fairy, the easter bunny, the leperchaun, and so on?
I'm not sure about the others, but the Easter bunny goes back to the Pagan, spring fertility festivals that "Easter" was invented to replace. Pagans did not want to give up their celebrations and such when they were forced to convert to love Jesus, so holidays were created to replace the Pagan festivities. Spring was a common time to worship the the fertility goddess. These festivals were typically populated with symbols of fertility such as rabbits, eggs and bulls. The rabbit and egg remain as remnants of European Paganism while the bull was dropped.