Today in the history of the American comic strip: March 9

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.

3.9.1890: Ralph Fuller is born in Capac, Michigan. Fuller illustrated Oaky Doaks, a medieval strip scripted by William McCleery in which a farm boy has a series of misadventures. It ran from 1925 to 1961.

3.9.1953: The Heart of Juliet Jones, a collaboration of Stan Drake and Elliot Caplin, debuts as a daily strip. A well-drawn soap opera, the feature ran until 2000.

3.9.1964: Harry Bliss is born in Rochester, New York. An illustrator and a cartoonist, he has a syndicated single-panel comic titled Bliss, which often features a small, light-colored dog.

3.9.1965: Jimmy Murphy, creator of Toots and Casper, dies. The domestic strip, which was unveiled in 1918, ran until 1956.
 

Bliss

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.