Today in the history of the American comic strip: August 27

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. 

8.27.1946 American underground cartoonist, publisher, author and agent Denis Kitchen is born. He founded Kitchen Sink Press in 1970 to publish, among other works, reprints of classic comic strips. The company closed in 1999.

8.27.2011: Signe Wilkinson discontinues Family Tree after only four years. The strip explored the challenges faced by a family trying to live in an environmentally responsible way.

Family Tree

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.