Sixty-five years ago today, good ol' Charlie Brown strolled across the comics page, blissfully unaware that he was the subject of Shermy's admiration and scorn. "Oh, how I hate him!" exclaimed the little boy, who would be all but forgotten in later years.

However, readers didn't hate Charlie Brown, and eventually Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts grew from just nine newspapers to, at its peak, more than 2,600. Just two days after the strip's debut, Schulz added Snoopy, followed over the next few years by Violet, Schroeder, Lucy, Linus and Pig-Pen, characters that, unlike Shermy and the original Patty, that have stood the test of time.

They've moved from the newspaper comics page to television, the stage and the big screen, to greetings cards, clothing, toys, board games, amusement parks and even restaurants.

Peanuts ran in newspapers nearly continuously for 49 years, with the final new strip appearing the day after Schulz's death in February 2000. To this day, many newspapers still carry reprints, as readers aren't quite ready to say goodbye to that round-headed kid, even after 65 years.