Who was Charlotte Braun

She was written as a female version of Charlie Brown. In fact, she looked just like him, except she had curly hair. She was also ostracized by her peers, but it was because she was loud and obnoxious, a fact she constantly pointed out during her appearances in the comic strip.

Shortly after her introduction in 1954, Schulz received a letter from Elizabeth Swain, a young fan in Pittsburgh, who told him to get rid of Braun because Swain found the character annoying and unfunny.

Schulz wrote Swain a letter saying that he would soon “discard” Braun as requested. He added a touch of dark humor by saying that Swain would “have the death of an innocent child on your conscience. Are you prepared to accept such responsibility?”

Next to his signature, he included a sketch of Charlotte Braun with an ax stuck in her head. Braun showed up in the comic one more time, but then never returned. He really did have a sense of humor.

What's in a Name, 5

One of the characters in the Peanuts universe was “555 95472,” or “5” for short. Introduced in September 1963, 5 explained that his father was so upset about people being seen as “just a number,” he renamed the entire family as a series of digits.

The family’s last name is taken from their ZIP Code, though when spoken, 5 insists there’s an accent on the 4. The ZIP Code, by the way, is the real one for Sebastopol, California, where Charles Schulz lived at the time.

5’s sisters 3 and 4 made a few appearances in the strip before disappearing, but 5 was occasionally a background character until 1981. You’ve probably seen 3, 4, and 5 already and didn’t even know it. All three appear in the famous dance sequence in 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. 3 and 4 are the twin girls in purple dresses, while 5 is the spiky-haired kid in orange.

Top Ten Dead Celebrities Incomes

Income for 2009.

10. Michael Crichton - $9 million (Author)

9. Albert Einstein - $10 million (Mainly gained from licensing his likeness)

8. Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) - $15 million (Children's books)

7. John Lennon - $15 million

6. Charles Schulz - $35 million (Creator of Peanuts cartoons)

5. J.R.R. Tolkien - $50 million (Lord of the Rings)

4. Elvis Presley - $55 million

3. Michael Jackson - $90 million

2. Rodgers & Hammerstein - $235 million (Composers, South Pacific, Oklahoma, etc.)

1. Yves Saint Laurent - $350 million (Clothing designer - derived mostly from the auctions of his estate)

What's in a Name, Sparky

The 1920s comic strip, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, strip gave us the nickname "Sparky," from the name of Barney's horse, Sparkplug.

Billy DeBeck wrote the strip about a community of backwoods hillbillies and moonshiners. In a 1923 strip Barney tells someone to, "Get that stupid look offa your pan. You gimme the heeby jeebys!" It meant, 'a feeling of discomfort'.

Other phrases coined by DeBeck: 'horsefeathers', 'hotsie-totsie', and 'googly-eyed' after Barney Google, who had huge, bulbous eyes.

Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was nicknamed Sparky - and that ain't no horsefeathers.