Today in the history of the American comic strip: February 22

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.

2.22.1919: Pete Hoffman is born in Toledo, Ohio. He became a ghost artist on Steve Roper (later titled Steve Roper and Mike Nomad) for almost nine years. During that time, his name only appeared on the strip over the course of several days in 1947.

2.22.1920: Animator and comic book artist Pete Alvarado is born in Raton, New Mexico. He collaborated with Charles Edson “Chuck” McKimson Jr. and brother Thomas McKimson on the Roy Rogers comic strip, which ran from 1949 to 1953.
 
2.22.2020: Cartoonist Norm Feuti’s strip Retail closed its doors for good today, ending a 14-year run. The strip focused on employees of Grumbel’s department store, which went into bankruptcy protection shortly before the strip folded.

Steve Roper and Mike Nomad

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.