Today in the history of the American comic strip: March 4

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.

3.4.1895: Cartoonist Milt Gross is born in New York City. His work, which included Count Screwloose of Tooloose, is noted for its exaggerated cartoon style and Yiddish-inflected English dialogue. 

3.4.1946: Alex Raymond’s detective strip, Rip Kirby, debuts. Raymond died in a car crash in 1956, but the comic ran until 1999.

3.4.1962: Robb Armstrong, the creator of JumpStart, is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His strip, which entered syndication in 1989, portrays a young African-American couple, Joe and Marcy Cobb, as they try to balance work and raising young children. 

3.4.1966: Woodstock, a small, yellow bird who befriended Snoopy, makes his first appearance in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts. He remained unnamed until 1970.

3.4.2001: Fred Lasswell, who worked on Barney Google and Snuffy Smith for many years, dies in Tampa, Florida, at 84.

JumpStart

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.