Today in the history of the American comic srip: December 1

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.

12.1.1963: The creator of They’ll Do It Every Time and Little Iodine, Jimmy Hatlo, dies at 66 when he suffers a stroke.

12.1.1980: Kit ’n’ Carlyle, by Larry Wright, joins the comics lineup. The strip, which ran for 35 years, focused on a woman (Kit) and her cat (Carlyle).
 
12.1.1981: Russ Manning, who drew the Tarzan strip from 1967 to 1972 and stayed on the Sunday page until 1979, dies in California at 52.
 
12.1.2001: Brian M. Kane releases Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators, Father of the Adventure Strip, a biography of the man who created Prince Valiant.

12.1.2023: Guard Dog, a character in the Mutts strip who has been chained outside for years, finally is released by rescuers who race him off to a veterinary clinic for treatment.

They'll Do It Every Time

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.