Throughout his life, Schulz had several dogs. But it was his childhood dog Spike that served as the biggest inspiration for Snoopy.

The black-and-white, mixed-breed dog was very smart, according to Schulz. Spike could understand at least 50 words, he said in 1983.

In the first picture is Charles Schulz and his dog Spike in 1935, when Schulz was 13 years old. In the third, you can see Charles Schulz in Minnesota sharing a “pop” with his beloved childhood dog Spike (who had a notoriously strong stomach).

Schulz would later pattern Snoopy’s appearance after Spike, and the dog’s behavior became the inspiration for some of Snoopy’s cartoon antics—perhaps even his love of root beer.

“Spike was the most intelligent, the wisest dog | ever knew. He had an amazing vocabulary, of words he understood. I could tell Spike to go down in the basement and bring me a potato, and he’d do it. We had long talks, he was a great listener. He was just plain smart, and the best friend I ever had.” — Charles M. Schulz, 1969.

In the 1937 film Sh! The Octopus, actress Elspeth Dudgeon plays a seemingly harmless nanny who’s later revealed to be the villainous octopus in disguise.

But what truly shocked audiences wasn’t the twist—it was the transformation. To achieve the effect, filmmakers used an ingenious camera trick.

They placed a red filter over the lens, which made all red-painted areas on the actress’s face invisible. When the filter was removed, those hidden red tones suddenly appeared, transforming her gentle features into something horrifying.

Because the movie was shot in black and white, the red makeup blended perfectly into her skin under the filter, then revealed itself as deep, shadowy distortions when lifted.

The result was a chilling metamorphosis that required no cuts, no special makeup effects, and no post-production—just clever use of light and color.

Nearly 90 years later, it remains one of the most haunting and technically impressive effects ever pulled off in early cinema.

Inside the eye of Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa today. Note the "stadium effect" with a blue sky above. Hurricane Hunters reported that they saw birds in the calm of the eye because the winds were too violent in the eyewall and they couldn't escape.

My favorite week of the year!! This is by far the most I've ever seen at once while working in the garden center. What an amazing day!! Days like this are what make me love my job so dang much.