Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) launched his landmark newspaper strip Peanuts in October 1950 and, over the next 50 years, it ran in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz died in his sleep Feb. 12, 2000 -- just hours before the last original Peanuts strip was published. All told, Schulz completed 17,897 daily and Sunday strips, each one written, drawn, and lettered by his own hand—an unmatched achievement in comics.