Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran for almost 50 years from October 2, 1950 to February 13, 2000 (the day after Schulz's death). The strip is considered to be one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium. At its peak, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages. It helped cement the 4-panel gag strip as the standard in the United States, and reprints are still syndicated and run in many newspapers. In addition, Peanutsachieved considerable success for its television special