Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 11

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.

9.11.1911: Carl Grubert, creator of The Berrys, is born. His strip, which was syndicated from 1942 to 1974, chronicled the lives of the Berry family: dad Peter, mom Pat, daughter Jill and sons Jackie and Jimmie.

9.11.1923: Alex Kotzky is born in New York City. He was the artist on Apartment 3-G for more than 30 years, and later assumed writing duties as well. Kotzky received a Newspaper Comic Strip award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1968.

9.11.1950: Mort Walker introduces newspaper readers to Beetle Bailey, which is set in a fictional U.S. Army post. The strip remains in syndication.

9.11.1967: Redeye, a strip about a tribe of 19th-century Native Americans, debuts. Created by Gordon Bess, it remained in print for four decades.
 
9.11.1983: Priscilla’s Pop, a gag-a-day comic that Al Vermeer launched in 1946, finally draws to a close. Edmund R. "Ed" Sullivan drew the strip after Vermeer's retirement in 1976.
 

9.11.1988: Rick Detorie debuts One Big Happy, a strip about a six-year-old girl named Ruthie.

9.11.2001: In the weeks following today's terrorist attacks, The Boondocks garners significant attention with a series of strips in which Huey, the major character, calls a government tip line to report Ronald Reagan for funding terrorism. 

9.11.2002: Overlook Books releases The Short Life and Happy Times of the Shmoo, reproducing strips from Al Capp’s Li’l Abner that featured the popular character.

9.11.2011: More than 90 comic strips commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001.
 

One Big Happy

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.