Today in the history of the American comic strip: February 25

American cartoonists and writers may not have invented the comic strip, but some argue that the comics, as we know them today, are an American creation. Clearly, the United States has played an outsize role in the development of this underappreciated art form.

2.25.1903: Darrell McClure, who worked on Little Annie Rooney from 1930 to 1966, is born in Ukiah, California. The strip about a young orphaned girl and her dog Zero was launched in 1927, after Little Orphan Annie became a hit.

2.25.1929: Illustrator and cartoonist Arnold Roth is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1959, he introduced Poor Arnold’s Almanac, which ran until 1961, and again from 1989 to 1990. John Updike once wrote: “All cartoonists are geniuses, but Arnold Roth is especially so.” Roth is a member of the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame.

2.25.1973: Terry and the Pirates ends its run of close to 40 years. Creator Milton Caniff launched the adventure strip in 1934 and left it in 1946, but successor George Wunder kept it going until 1973.

2.25. 2013: Stephan Pastis, the creator of Pearls Before Swine, releases his first children’s book: Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.
 

Most of the information listed here from one day to the next comes from two online sites -- Wikipedia, and Don Markstein's Toonopedia -- as well as 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics, edited by Maurice Horn. Note that my focus is on American newspaper comic strips (and the occasional foreign strip that gained popularity in the United States). Thus, comic books and exclusively online comics are not included here.