Today in the history of the American comic strip: June 7

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.

6.7.1930: Otto Soglow’s The Little King debuts in The New Yorker.  One week after the strip’s final appearance in that magazine, it premiered as a newspaper comic, on Sept. 9, 1934.

6.7.1996: The Phantom, a superhero film based on Lee Falk’s comic strip of the same name, is released. Launched in 1936, Falk's cartoon remains in syndication. 

6.7,1998: Frumpy the Clown is discontinued after two years. Created by Judd Winick, the cartoon involved a grumpy but children-loving clown who moves in with a family after Brad Bragg, a 10-year-old boy, brings him home.

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.