A Letter That Changed History

Can a mere letter (i.e. correspondence) change history? We'll offer some examples, including a biblical one. 

Once upon a time, people wrote letters. Not text messages, tweets or e-mails, but true epistles. Pens were actually put to paper. And these letters changed history, in ways both big and small.

First, the small changes.

A letter killed Charlotte Braun. Charlotte who? Charlotte Braun was a pushy version of Charlie Brown, the classic Peanuts character created by Charles Schulz. According to mental_floss magazine (October 2012), Charlotte Braun was introduced to the comic strip in November 1954, prompting a fan to write a letter to Schulz complaining about the obnoxious character.

Schulz killed the character -- literally! He wrote a response to the fan which included a drawing of Charlotte Braun with an ax in her head.

So much for the sweetness of comic strips.

A letter connected Annie Oakley to the President of the United States. The famous sharpshooter amazed crowds by shooting holes in playing cards tossed in the air, so she thought she could be of service to her country. Moved by...