Today in the history of the American comic strip: March 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.

3.16.1952: In Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, which debuted in 1950, Snoopy’s thoughts are shown in a thought balloon for the first time.

3.16.2010: Cartoonist and author Jules Feiffer, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986, releases Backing into Forward: A Memoir.

3.16.2012: Fantagraphics Books publishes the first volume in a set of reprints of Ernie Bushmiller’s  long-running strip Nancy.

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.