Remembering the comic strip loved by millions

If you are one of the millions of people who enjoyed the Peanuts comic strip and its star Charlie Brown, here are some odd facts you might not know.

Creator Charles Schulz, who started the strip in 1947, originally called it Li’l Folks. But when the strip was syndicated in 1950, the name was changed to Peanuts. Schulz didn’t especially like it.

Charlie Brown’s beloved beagle Snoopy was modeled after Schulz’s pointer dog, Spike. Snoopy had five siblings from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. All of them made appearances during the years the strip ran.

One character was so unpopular with readers that she had a short run. The brash Charlotte Braun, the counterpoint to soft-spoken Charlie Brown, appeared in only ten strips and disappeared without explanation.

Another character was frequently mentioned as the love interest of Charlie Brown. She was called the Little Red-Haired Girl. She was never given a name or seen in the strip. She appeared in silhouette in one of the strips in 1998. She was based on Schulz’s unrequited love for a real red-haired woman.