Today in the history of the American comic strip: December 26

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.

12.26.1955: Pogo Possum and other members of the gang from Walt Kelly’s Pogo appear on a Christmas-themed Newsweek cover.

12.26:1960: Jim Toomey, the creator of Sherman’s Lagoon, is born. His strip first appeared in one newspaper in 1991.

12.26.1985: Jackie Ormes, the first African-American woman cartoonist, dies in Chicago, Illinois. She created the Torchy Brown comic and the panel cartoon Patty-Jo ’n’ Ginger.

12.26.1992: Ted Shearer dies in Mount Kisco, New York. His strip, Quincy, was one of the first mainstream comics to star an African-American in the lead role.

12.26.2005: Bud Blake, the creator of Tiger, dies in Portland, Maine, at 87. He drew his cartoon, which focused on a group of boyhood pals, until he was 85.

Sherman's Lagoon

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.