Today in the history of the American comic strip: July 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.

7.25.1916: Fred Lasswell, who took over Barney Google and Snuffy Smith following the death of creator Billy DeBeck, is born in Kennett, Missouri. He was named 1963 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society, which also awarded him a Newspaper Comic Strip award the same year.

7.25.1939: A. E. Hayward dies in New York City. In 1918, he debuted Somebody’s Stenog (short for stenographer), which was one of the first daily strips focusing on an independent woman. The comic ran until 1941.

7.25.1950: Signe Wilkinson, an editorial cartoonist and the the creator of the Family Tree strip (2007-2011), is born in Wichita Falls, Texas.

7.25.1957: Ray Billingsley, the cartoonist behind Curtis, is born in Wake Forest, North Carolina. His strip, which launched in 1988, focuses on an urban black family.

7.25.1982: Hal Foster, the creator of Prince Valiant and the initial artist for Tarzan, dies in Spring Hill, Florida, at 89. Foster is a member of the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame.
 

Curtis

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.