Cartoonist and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz knew at an early age that he wanted to be a cartoonist and draw funny pictures. That dream was cemented in 1937 when he saw his drawing of the family dog, Spike, published in the nationally syndicated Ripley’s Believe it or Not newspaper.

After completing a cartoon course with the Federal School of Applied Cartooning, Schulz was drafted into the United States Army where he served until the fall of 1945. Back home, Schulz did lettering for Timeless Topix and took a job at Art Instruction, before selling one-panel cartoons to The Saturday Evening Post. He later enjoyed a three-year run of his weekly panel comic, Li’l Folks, in the local St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Then, at 27 years old, Schulz introduced the world to the Peanuts gang in seven nationwide newspapers on October 2, 1950. This seemingly simple four-panel creation would go on to become a cultural phenomenon and is among the most popular and influential in the history of comic strips. The strip centers primarily around Charlie Brown, his sister Sally, best friend Linus, frenemy Lucy, pets Snoopy and Woodstock, and additional friends Schroeder, Pigpen, Franklin, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie. At its height, Peanuts was published daily in 2,600 papers in 75 countries, translated in 21 languages, with a readership of around 355 million. Across five decades, Schulz drew 17,897 Peanuts strips.

Outside of print, the Peanuts were also adapted into several animated series including The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, This is America, Charlie Brown, and Peanuts Motion Comics. Central to elevating the cultural impact of Peanuts were the animated holiday specials A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. These specials remain “among the most consistently popular television specials,” with both A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving winning an Emmy Award. The Peanuts gang have also starred in several feature-length films, stage productions and have long been featured on a number of different licensed items and are a staple in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Throughout his career, Schulz has garnered the National Cartoonists Society’s Humor Comic Strip Award, two Reuben Awards, the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award, the inaugural Harvey Kurtzman Hall of Fame Award and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, adjacent to Walt Disney’s. He also had a NASA spacecraft named after his characters, inspired a concert performance at Carnegie Hall, and has a museum dedicated entirely to his work in California.

Although Schulz passed away in 2000, his impact on the modern comic strip and the world of pop culture cannot be overstated. The minimalist drawings and sarcastic humor of Peanuts blazed a trail that many cartoonists have since tried to follow, while the Peanuts gang themselves continue to entertain the young and the young at heart.