On this day, December the 9th, in the year of 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas, a Christmas television special which follows the characters of the Peanuts comic strip finding the true meaning of Christmas, first aired.

At first CBS and Coca-Cola, who commissioned the special to be made, didn’t like the final product, but when it aired, half of Americans with a television tuned into CBS watch the special, with it remaining a holiday staple since (Mental Floss) (Infoplease).

This year, A Charlie Brown Christmas will be aired on PBS on December 17th at 7:30 P.M. E.T. (Southern Living).

To read more daily facts and tidbits, see the Barron Perspectives “On this Day Archives” webpage.