Today in the history of the American comic strip: February 19

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.

2.19.1914: Henry Boltinoff is born in New York City. The comic strips he worked on included Stoker the Broker, This and That, Woody Forrest and Hocus-Focus.
 

2.19.2006: Former editorial cartoonist Michael Fry discontinues Committed after 12 years. The strip focused on a suburban family.

 

2.19.2021: In an interview with The Daily Home, an Alabama newspaper, John Rose, the cartoonist who currently produces Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, says he has made some changes over the years, including the fact that characters in the legendary hillbilly strip can now read.

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.