NEED TO KNOW
Charles M Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown and the rest of the "Peanuts" gang, launched the comic strip on Oct. 2, 1950
It quickly became one of the most successful comic strips in history, and Schulz became a millionaire many times over
Schulz, who always said Charlie Brown was his alter ego, died from colon cancer the day before the final strip ran in the Sunday papers
On Oct. 2, 1950, a comic strip called "Peanuts" appeared for the first time in nine American newspapers, starring a "lovable loser" named Charlie Brown.
Within its first 25 years, it became one of the most successful comic strips in history, syndicated daily in 1,655 newspapers around the globe. It launched a multi-million dollar empire that included books, greeting cards, movies, television specials,