Today in the history of the American comic strip: October 8

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.

10.8.1949: Jerry Bittle is born in Wichita, Kansas. He drew Geech, and Shirley and Son, both of which were discontinued when he died of a heart attack at 53.

10.8.1957: Richard Thompson, the creator of Cul de Sac, is born. His strip about four-year-old Alice Otterloop and her family and friends ran for only eight years because Thompson developed Parkinson's disease. He died in 2016.
 

Cul de Sac

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.