Today in the history of the American comic strip: July 31

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.

7.31.1933: Milton Caniff, who later earned fame for Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon, debuts his first comic strip: Dickie Dare.

7.31.1966: Ben Casey ends its run four months after the cancellation of the TV show that inspired the comic strip.

7.31.1968: Franklin Armstrong, the first African-American character in Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, makes his initial appearance.

7.31.1976: The final daily episode of Lank Leonard’s Mickey Finn runs. The strip had shed its Sunday installment the previous year.

 

Ben Casey

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.