Charles M. Schulz: Timeline

 

Nov. 26, 1922 Charles Monroe Schulz was born in Minneapolis as the only child of Dena and Carl Schulz, a hard-working St. Paul barber. An uncle nicknamed him ``Sparky'' after Sparkplug, a horse in the Barney Google comic strip.  
   
1920s His kindergarten teacher at Mattocks School in St. Paul told him, "Some day, Charles, you are going to be an artist."  
   
1930s As a boy, Schulz was interested in comics, especially Popeye and the characters created by Walt Disney.  
   
1934 The Schulz family was given a black and white dog that was the inspiration for Snoopy. His name was Spike.  
   
1939/40 Schulz enrolled in a correspondence cartoon course with Federal Schools (later known as Art Instruction Schools) during his senior year in high school.  
   
1940 Schulz graduated from high school. The drawings he contributed to the school yearbook were not included in the publication.  
   
1943 At 20, Schulz was drafted into the Army. While in basic training his mother died of cancer. Schulz served as a machine-gun squad leader in Germany, France and Austria. He later wrote, ``The Army taught me all I needed to know about loneliness.''  
   
1945 Discharged from the Army, Schulz returned to St. Paul.  
   
1947 Schulz's career as a cartoonist began with the publication of his panel cartoon, ``Li'l Folks,'' in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  
   
1948 - 1950 Schulz sold 17 panel cartoons to the Saturday Evening Post.  
   
1950 After several rejections, Schulz sold his strip to United Feature Syndicate. The syndicate renamed his strip, Peanuts, a title he never liked.  
   
Oct. 2, 1950 Peanuts debuted in seven newspapers. The syndicate paid Schulz $90 for his first month of strips.  
   
1951 Married Joyce Halverson. After a brief move to Colorado Springs, CO, the family returned to Minneapolis.  
   
1952 The first Sunday Peanuts page published; the strip was then featured in over 40 U.S. newspapers. The first book collection, Peanuts was published.  
   
1955 Kodak was the first product sponsor - using the Peanuts characters in a camera handbook. Schulz won his first Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society.  
   
1958 Schulz left Minnesota and moved his wife and five children to Sebastopol, California. Peanuts appeared in 355 U.S. and 40 foreign newspapers. The first plastic Snoopy was produced.  
   
1960 Hallmark produced Peanuts greeting cards. Peanuts art and animation used for Ford Falcon advertising campaign.  
   
1962 Happiness is a Warm Puppy was published. Peanuts named Best Humor Strip of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society.  
   
1964 Schulz became the first cartoonist to be awarded two Reubens by the National Cartoonists Society.  
   
1965 Peanuts featured on cover of Time magazine. TV carried Schulz's first animated TV feature, A Charlie Brown Christmas. It later won a Peabody Award and an Emmy.  
   
1966 Schulz' father Carl Schulz died while visiting in California. Fire destroyed Schulz's Sebastopol studio.  
   
1967 The stage musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, opened off Broadway. It became the most-produced musical in America.  
   
May 24, 1967 Then-Gov. Ronald Reagan greeted the cartoonist at the Capitol in observance of the legislature-proclaimed ``Charles Schulz Day.''  
   
1969 Charlie Brown and Snoopy accompanied astronauts on Apollo X. Schulz opened his Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa, California.  
   
1972 Charles and Joyce Schulz divorced  
   
1973 Schulz and the former Jean Forsyth Clyde were married. Schulz received Emmy Award for writing television special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  
   
1974 Schulz served as the grand marshal of the Rose Parade in Pasadena.  
   
1975 Peanuts celebrated 25 years. It was carried in approximately 1480 U.S. and 175 foreign newspapers with 90,000,000 readers. Television special, You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown won an Emmy.  
   
1978 International Pavilion of Humor in Montreal named Schulz Cartoonist of the Year.  
   
1979 Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown, by Lee Mendelson and Schulz published.  
   
1980 Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Me by Schulz and R. Smith Kiliper published. Television special, Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown received an Emmy.  
   
1983 Television special, What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? won a Peabody Award. Camp Snoopy opened at Knott's Berry Farm in California.  
   
1984 Peanuts qualified for place in Guinness Book of World Records after being sold to 2000th newspaper.  
   
1985 You Don't Look 35, Charlie Brown published. The Oakland Museum of California opened anniversary exhibit The Graphic Art of Charles Schulz.  
   
1986 Schulz inducted into Cartoonist Hall of Fame by the Museum of Cartoon Art.  
   
1989 Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz, a biography by Rheta Grimsley Johnson in cooperation with Schulz, published.  
   
1990 The government of France named Schulz a commander of arts and letters. Snoopy in Fashion exhibit opened at the Louvre. This Is Your Childhood, Charlie Brown - Children in American Culture exhibit opened at The National Museum of History in Washington, D.C.  
   
1992 Snoopy, The Masterpiece exhibit opened at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. Schulz awarded the Order of Merit from the Italian Minister of Culture.  
   
1995 The 45th anniversary of Peanuts is marked by exhibit Around the Moon and Home Again: A Tribute to the Art of Charles M. Schulz at the Space Center in Houston.  
   
June 28, 1996 Schulz got his own star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame.  
   
Oct. 16, 1997 Schulz and wife Jeannie announced they would give $1 million toward the construction of a D-Day memorial to be placed in Virginia. World premiere of Peanuts Gallery by composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich held at Carnegie Hall.  
   
1999 Schulz's Peanuts: A Golden Celebration published. You're a Good Man Charlie Brown opened in a new production on Broadway. Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers worldwide. Over 20,000 products had been developed based on Peanuts.  
   
December 14, 1999 Because of health problems Schulz announced his retirement.  
   
Jan. 3, 2000 Schulz's final original daily comic strip appeared in newspapers.  
   
Feb. 7, 2000 California lawmakers declared Sunday, Feb. 13 ``Charles M. Schulz Day.''  
   
Feb. 12, 2000 Schulz died in his sleep at his home.  
   
Feb. 13, 2000 Schulz's final Sunday strip appeared in newspapers around the world.  
   
May 17, 2001 First Day Issue of U.S. Postal Service Peanuts Stamp at Charlie Schulz's Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa CA.  
   
Posthumous awards include: The Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the National Cartoonists Society in May, 2000 and the Congressional Gold Medal on June 7, 2001.