One story arc has Charlie Brown's baseball team making it into the championship game... and the team loses because of Charlie Brown. However, the fact that Charlie Brown's team even made it to the championship game implies that they won at least a few games.
In the Thanksgiving special, one of the things Snoopy serves Peppermint Patty and others is popcorn, which was probably actually served at the first Thanksgiving. Also (as lampshaded by Linus), the situation Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and Charlie Brown are in is similar to the one in the poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish".
Doubles with Genius Bonus: Why is Snoopy a World War I flying ace? Because he's a BEAGLE!
Plus, the real-life pilot who defeated the Red Baron was surnamed Brown, and Brown is technically Snoopy's last name...
Though it is a total coincidence, "Chuck" is actually a pretty apt nickname for Charlie Brown considering his limited success as a pitcher. And since Peppermint Patty is obviously sporty and does not play on "Chuck's" team it's funny to read it as a bit of underhand trolling on her part.
The decision in the 1994 "You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown" special to have Franklin representing the Houston Oilersnote now Tennessee Titans counts considering that at the time of the special's production and original broadcast the Oilers were one of the few National Football League teams with a black quarterback, in this case future Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon.
Once the 70s rolled around and Vince Guaraldi suffered his untimely death, thus preventing him from composing any more of his signature jazz tracks for the animated specials, what did the newcomer composers decide to opt for instead? ... Jazz fusion.
Lucy's shift from Linus's Big Sister Bully to Rerun's nicer Big Sister Mentor makes sense beyond Charles Schulz making the strip Lighter and Softer over the years. Eldest siblings will often attest that their Sibling Rivalry is strongest with the second-born sibling, because the second-born was the one who first took away their status as their parents' one-and-only and forced them to get used to living with another child whose personality doesn't always mesh with their own. By contrast, when a third sibling comes along, the eldest is more prepared and able to get along with that sibling better. Of course not all families work this way, but many do, and it may well explain why Lucy is nicer to Rerun than to Linus.
Apollo 10 was intended to get close to the moon without landing on it, as a "dress rehearsal" for Apollo 11 so that any remaining problems could be sorted out — as radio callsigns, the astronauts named the lunar module "Snoopy" for its role in "snooping around" potential landing sights, with the command module that remained in lunar orbit being named "Charlie Brown". As much as Schultz was initially hesitant regarding this due to Charlie Brown'spropensity for failure, wishing to go the whole distance but only getting halfway there is still kinda fitting for good ol' Chuck, isn't it?
One 1976 storyline had the sentient school building (which expressed its thoughts in thought-bubbles, and which Sally talked to often) feeling depressed over its dreary life...and finally collapsing one night of its own free will. Though the pile of bricks that was left could still think and react to Sally's speech, it was framed as a suicide (said pile of rubble thinking, "I had all I could take" and Sally even referring to the school as having committed suicide). This is a heavy enough subject for a strip like Peanuts, but it gets even more chilling when you realize that Schulz struggled with clinical depression for most of his life, and may have been writing the school's thoughts from his own experience.
had the sentient school building (which expressed its thoughts in thought-bubbles, and which Sally talked to often) feeling depressed over its dreary life...and finally collapsing one night of its own free will. Though the pile of bricks that was left could still think and react to Sally's speech, it was framed as a suicide (said pile of rubble thinking, "I had all I could take" and Sally even referring to the school as having committed suicide). This is a heavy enough subject for a strip like Peanuts, but it gets even more chilling when you realize that Schulz struggled with clinical depression for most of his life, and may have been writing the school's thoughts from his own experience.