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Podcast: Today In History with The Retrospectors
Episode: Meet Charlie Brown
Description: Happy 75th birthday, ‘Peanuts’! Charles Shulz’ iconic comic strip made its debut (although Snoopy had yet to appear) on 2nd October, 1950.
Peanuts would grow into a global phenomenon, running in 2,600 papers across 75 countries. At its peak, it was translated into 21 languages - but never lost its bittersweet mix of humour, disappointment, and charm, making Charlie Brown and the gang cultural touchstones for decades.
The first words of the strip? “Here comes good ol’ Charlie Brown… How I hate him.” This tone was a notable departure from the loud, chaotic, adventure stories that dominated ‘the funny pages’ at the tim...