Today in the history of the American comic strip: January 7

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. 

1.7.1881: Gene Carr is born in New York City. He was drawing newspaper cartoons by the age of 25. His comic, Lady Bountiful, which debuted in 1902, may have starred the first female protagonist in a comic strip.

1.7.1900: Carl E. Schultze’s Foxy Grandpa makes its first appearance. It ran until 1918.

1.7.1929: Bucks Rogers in the 25th Century A.D. launches as a daily strip, with Dick Calkins as the illustrator and Philip Francis Nowlan as the writer.

1.7.1929: Tarzan of the Apes, an adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, debuts as a daily comic, with Hal Foster as illustrator.

1.7.1934: Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon begins its successful quest to compete with Buck Rogers, which made its way into newspapers in 1929.

1.7.1934: Jungle Jim, drawn by Alex Raymond and written by Don Moore. debuts. A Sundays-only strip, it survived until 1954.

1.7.1950: Frank Miller's Barney Baxter, which focused on an aviator, ends its run as a daily strip. It took flight in 1936.

1.7.1986. George Sixta, the creator of Rivets, dies in Laguna Hills, California, at 76. His newspaper strip, which starred a dog, ran from 1953 to 1985.
 
1.7.1990: Baby Blues, created by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman, debuts. It focuses on the adventures of the MacPherson family. Scott was named 2001 Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society, and Kirkman tied with Brian Crane of Pickles for the 2012 award. In 1995, the National Cartoonists Society awarded Kirkman the Newspaper Comic Strip award. 

1.7.1991: Lincoln Peirce unveils a daily strip called Big Nate, which follows the adventures of a rebellious sixth grader, his classmates, and their teachers.

1.7.2002: Lawyer Stephan Pastis quits his job and debuts his comic strip, Pearls Before Swine, in more than 100 newspapers, following an initial launch a few days earlier in The Washington Post.

Flash Gordon

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.