Today in the history of the American comic strip: November 30

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.

11.30.1938: Blondie, a movie based on the comic strip, is released. It was the first of 28 such films produced from 1938 to 1943. Popular demand brought them back in 1945. The film series came to an end in 1950. 

11.30.1954: Charlotte Braun, a minor character in the Peanuts strip, makes her debut. She proved to be unpopular with readers, and cartoonist Charles M. Schulz dropped her after fewer than a dozen appearances.

11.30.1957: Brian Basset, the creator of Adam (now Adam@Home) and Red and Rover, is born in Norwalk, Connecticut.

11.30.2005: Jim Sasseville dies at 78. He worked with Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz on It’s Only a Game, a short-lived strip that Schulz created in 1957, focusing on sports and games. 

11.30.2012: Jeff Millar, co-creator of Tank McNamara, dies in Houston, Texas, at 70.

11.30.2014: The Better Half, a strip about a married couple, is discontinued after almost 60 years in print.

Adam@Home

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.