Today in the history of the American comic strip: January 16

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.

1.16.1938: Dudley Fisher debuts Right Around Home, a suburban strip with a very large single-panel Sunday format that featured a bird’s-eye view of many characters grouped together in a compact area. A daily feature with a more conventional format and a different focus was added later. 

1.16.1939:  The Superman comic strip premieres as a daily strip, followed by a Sunday feature several months later. Several writers and artists worked on the strip until its demise in May 1966.
 

1.16.1942: Private Snuffy Smith is released. The movie, which starred Bud Duncan as Snuffy, was inspired by Billy DeBeck’s strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.

1.16.1968: The creator of Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis, is born. As an adult, he became disenchanted with the practice of law, launching the strip -- and a new career -- in 2001.

Pearls Before Swine

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.