Today in the history of the American comic strip: September 16

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.

9.16.1887: Paul Arnot, creator of Helpful Henry, is born. The strip ran from 1925 to 1926, but despite its  brief tenure, Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy said the character was an inspiration for him.

9.16.1895: Gene Ahern, the cartoonist behind Our Boarding House (1921-1936) and Room and Board (1936-1953), is born in Chicago, Illinois.

9.16.1920. Art Sansom, creator of The Born Loser, is born in East Cleveland, Ohio.

9.16.1921: Gene Ahern’s Our Boarding House makes its debut, providing a future home for a pompous and popular character named Major Hoople.

9.16.1961: Hector Cantú is born in Weslaco, Texas. His Latin-American strip Baldo, created with Carlos Castellanos, launched in 2000.

9.16.1961: The Saint, which began as a daily strip in 1948, is canceled. It was inspired by the novels and short stories of Leslie Charteris.

9.16.1963: British import Andy Capp, the creation of Reg Smythe, makes his first appearance in the United States.

9.16.2011: Tom Wilson, the creator of Ziggy, dies in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 80.

 

9.16.2022: The National Cartoonists Society selects The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, by John Hambrock, as the newspaper comic strip of the year. The cartoon about a boy genius launched in 2006.
 

Ziggy

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.