Today in the history of the American comic strip: October 29

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.

10.29.1921: Bill Mauldin is born in Mountain Park, New Mexico. An editorial cartoonist later in life, he is best known for creating Willie and Joe, American infantrymen who served in Europe during World War Two. His wartime cartoons were popular with soldiers overseas and Americans at home. Mauldin twice won the Pulitzer Prize.

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.