Today in the history of the American comic strip: January 10

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.

1.10.1897: J. P. McEvoy, who wrote Dixie Dugan, is born. The strip, which was launched in 1929 and ran until 1966, originally was named Show Girl.

1.10.1918: Ken Ernst is born is Illinois. In 1942, he took over as the artist on Mary Worth and illustrated that strip until 1985.

1.10.1922: Bob Lubbers is born. The artist worked on Tarzan, Li’l Abner, and Long Sam.

1.10.1927: Little Annie Rooney debuts. Written and illustrated by several people over the years, the strip about an orphan girl and her dog Zero ran until 1966.
 
1.10.1932: C. D. Russell's Pete the Tramp begins making his rounds. The comic about "a hobo with a gentleman's instincts" remained in circulation until 1963.

1.10.1932: Silly Symphony debuts as Silly Symphonies, a topper for the Sunday page of the Mickey Mouse comic strip. The strip featured adaptations of Walt Disney cartoons and animated films.
 
1.10.1943: Bugs Bunny makes his first newspaper appearance in a strip that would run for almost 50 years. It began as a Sunday page and added a daily strip in 1948. 

1.10.1961: Author Dashiell Hammett, the co-creator of Secret Agent X-9, dies in New York City at 66.

1.10.1972: Reverend Scot Sloan makes his first appearance in Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury.

1.10.1988: Roy Crane's Wash Tubbs throws in the towel after more than 60 years in print. It began its run in 1924.

Doonesbury

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.