Wednesday: Happy Birthday Charlie Brown!

Good morning Bethlehem. Today is Wednesday, October 2, 2013.

On this day in 1950, an icon of American culture first appeared on the funny pages of your local newspaper.

Charles Schulz’s Peanuts—featuring good ol’ Charlie Brown—debuted in nine newspapers nationwide. The Bethlehem Globe-Times was one of them.

The most popular and influential comic strip of all time, at its peak, it appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages.

The last original daily Peanuts comic strip appeared in 2000, but reruns of the strip continue to appear in newspapers across the country.

Here’s what else is happening in Bethlehem today:

• The calendar says October, but the weatherman says something else. The National Weather Service forecast high temperature is 83 degrees. At least it will be sunny and the temperature is expected to drop to 54 at night.

• The Bethlehem Historical and Architectural Review Board meets at 4 p.m. in Town Hall. Among the agenda items, the Artsy Diva Boutique on Main Street is seeking permission to put a shingle sign above its current sign.

• If you love Irish music, head over to Godfrey Daniels, 7 E. Fourth St., for its monthly Irish “Seisiun” at 7:30. It will be an evening of traditional jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas and songs. All musicians, singers, dancers and lovers of Irish music welcome. And admission is free.

• Lehigh University’s Department of Theatre brings Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy of vengeance and power, Medea, to life at the Zoellner Arts Center’s Diamond Theatre at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 and $5 for students. Click here for more information.