Rip Van Winkle is the guy in Washington Irving's short story of the same name. Rip Van Winkle slept for 20 years having missed the American Revolution, the death of his wife, the marriage of his daughter and the birth of his grandson.
There are many other versions of the story in which characters go to sleep for long periods of time. The Talmud tells several versions of the story of Rabbi Honi who slept for 100 years according to Jewish scriptures. Rip's slumber, compared to this, is really more of a cat-nap.
Read Rip Van Winkle Summary from eNotes.com.
Of interest, from Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter’s Bloody Chamber, check out the top 10 fairytales picked by cultural historian, critic, novelist and short story writer Marina Warner.