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Charles Schulz’s life and career timeline

1922

Charles Monroe Schulz born.

1922
1939

Schulz enrolls in Art Instruction Correspondence Course.

1939
1940

"Sparky" Schulz's drawings are rejected from his high school yearbook.

1940
1943

Schulz ships out for Army service, days after his mother dies of cancer.

1943
1946

Schulz joins the evangelical Church of God, which promotes the universal brotherhood of Christians.

1946
1950

The first Peanuts strip is published. Donna Wold, Sparky's red-haired first love, tells him she is going to marry someone else.

1950
1951

Schulz marries Joyce Halverson.

1951
1958

Schulz and family move from Minnesota to Northern California.

1958
1960

Hallmark produces the first Peanuts greetings cards.

1960
1965

Peanuts is featured on the cover of Time Magazine. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" airs and wins an Emmy and a Peabody.

1965
1966

Schulz's father dies while visiting him in California.

1966
1969

Schulz and Joyce's Redwood Empire Ice Arena opens in Santa Rosa. Charlie Brown and Snoopy accompany astronauts to the moon on Apollo X.

1969
1972

Schulz and Joyce divorce.

1972
1973

Schulz marries Jeannie.

1973
1981

Schulz has heart bypass surgery - hand is shaky thereafter.

1981
1990

A Peanuts exhibit, "Snoopy in Fashion," opens at the Louvre, while in the same year the Smithsonian presents "This Is Your Childhood, Charlie Brown... Children in American Culture, 1945-1970."

1990
1999

Schulz announces his retirement.

1999
2000

Schulz dies from colon cancer, the same day his last strip runs in the papers.

2000
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