Today in the history of the American comic strip: June 1

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.

6.1.1925: The daily version of Ella Cinders, created by writer Bill Conselman and artist Charles Plumb, debuts. A Sunday feature followed two years later.

6.1.1954: Linus Van Pelt, who first appeared in Peanuts in 1952, shows up with his security blanket for the first time.

6.1.1963: Mort Walker and Jerry Dumas discontinue Sam’s Strip after two years. The comic depended heavily on metahumor, and appearances by famous comic-strip characters.

6.1.1971: A Broadway production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown opens at the John Golden Theatre. It closed later that month after 32 performances and 15 previews.

6.1.2001: Hank Ketchum, the creator of Dennis the Menace, dies in Carmel, California, at 81.

6.1.2014: Watch Your Head, which launched in 2006, ends its newspaper run but returns soon thereafter as a web comic. Created by Cory Thomas, it focused on the lives of six students at a fictional historically black university.

6.1.2020: The Washington Post reports that at least 70 cartoonists “plan to pay visual tribute to first responders and other essential workers” on June 7 by adding “a handful of icons” to their strips, such as a cartoon mask for medical personnel, a microscope for scientists, an apple for teachers and a fork for food workers. The idea began with Baby Blues co-creator Rick Kirkman.

Dennis the Menace

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.