Happy birthday to what may well be the world's most famous cat

Garfield, that portly, self-absorbed feline, is 33 years old today. The lazy, wisecracking cat isn’t one of my favorite comic-strip characters, but let’s give credit where credit is due. After a June 19, 1978, debut in some 40 newspapers, Garfield was running in more than 2,000 papers within a decade, “a level of circulation previously achieved by only two strips - Blondie and Peanuts,” according to the online comics encyclopedia Toonopedia.

Over 30 reprints of the strip have been on The New York Times best-seller list and 11 of them made it to the top, Toonopedia reports. “In fact, Davis has the distinction of being the only author ever to have seven books on that list at once, a feat he accomplished in 1982.” 

The National Cartoonists' Society has honored Garfield creator Jim Davis with multiple awards over the years, including the prestigious Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year (1989). Garfield appears in more than 2,500 newspapers nowadays, and it has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world. Not bad for a jaded, lasagna-loving kitty.