Here’s the latest installment of Maggie Thompson’s ongoing look at important beginnings, middles, and ends, this time for July 10-16, 2026…

270 years ago July 13, 1756 British cartoonist and comics artist Thomas Rowlandson is born.

155 years ago July 13, 1871 Swedish artist Kurt Stangenberg is born. He works as “Stang” and creates Fridolf Celinders liv och leverne and Münchhausen-Bravader.

130 years ago July 10, 1896 Screenwriter Bill Conselman is born. He also writes comic strips and co-creates Ella Cinders with Charles Plumb.

110 years ago July 16, 1916 Magazine cartoonist Ed. Arno is born.

105 years ago July 10, 1921 Harvey Ball is born. He creates the Smiley Face design in 1963.

100 years ago July 14, 1926 French artist Jef De Wulf is born.

95 years ago July 11, 1931 French artist Jean-Louis Forain dies at age 78. He contributed to Le Figaro and other papers including his own Le Fifre magazine.

95 years ago July 13, 1931 Ernie Colón is born. The prolific comic book writer-artist is known for his work on Richie Rich and a number of projects (including action-adventure) for a variety of publishers. He co-creates Amethyst.

90 years ago July 11, 1936 Dutch satirical magazine De Notenkraker ends.

90 years ago July 11, 1936 Conan the Barbarian and King Kull creator Robert E. Howard dies by suicide at age 30.

90 years ago July 13, 1936 In Chic Young’s Blondie comic strip, Dagwood Bumstead crashes into mail carrier Mr. Beasley for the first time.

90 years ago July 14, 1936 Italian humor magazine Bertoldo begins.

80 years ago July 14, 1946 Octopus is introduced in Will Eisner’s The Spirit feature.

80 years ago July 15, 1946 Fantax magazine begins.

75 years ago July 10, 1951 Artist Dudley Fisher dies of coronary thrombosis at age 61. He created the newspaper features Right around Home and Myrtle.

70 years ago July 11, 1956 New Yorker cartoonist Daniel Shanahan is born.

70 years ago July 12, 1956 Writer-editor KC Carlson is born. The first editor of Comics Retailer is especially known for editing DC titles including Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman.

65 years ago July 14, 1961 Artist John K. Snyder III is born. He draws installments of Matt Wagner’s Grendel and is nominated for a 1989 Eisner Award.

65 years ago July 15, 1961 Artist and animator Bill White is born. The creator of Kaptain Keen and Kompany freelances for DC, Marvel, Archie, Harvey, Disney, and other comic book publishers.

60 years ago July 16, 1966 Animator and artist Leslie Elton dies at age 72. He worked for the Paramount-Bray Studio and wrote, directed, and animated the Universal cartoon series The Whozit Weekly. He created the NEA feature Jack Daw’s Adventures in 1922.

55 years ago July 15, 1971 Voice artist Bill Thompson dies of septic shock at age 58. The roles of the husband of cartoonist Clifford McBride’s daughter included Disney characters Mr. Smee and Jock and MGM cartoons’ Droopy.

45 years ago July 10, 1981 Based on Daniel P. Mannix’ novel, Walt Disney’s The Fox and the Hound opens.

40 years ago July 15, 1986 The last issue of Hillman’s Airboy Comics was dated May 1953. Now, Eclipse takes up the story in Airboy #1 with an adventure by Charles Dixon, Tim Truman, and Tom Yeates.

35 years ago July 15, 1991 MacAndrews & Forbes sells 40% of Marvel’s stock to the public, raising $74 million for debt reduction and owner dividends.

25 years ago July 11, 2001 Dutch artist (and rock and roll star) Herman Brood dies by suicide at age 54 by jumping off the top of the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam. He created “Bisz” cartoons.

25 years ago July 13, 2001 French cartoonist Piem is inducted into the Légion d’Honneur.

25 years ago July 15, 2001 Hungarian-Dutch artist Endre Lukács dies at age 95. He was especially known for his work for the Dutch Donald Duck weekly.

25 years ago July 16, 2001 Dutch political cartoonist Rob Wout (who worked as “Opland”) dies of bone cancer two days before his 73rd birthday. He also drew the adventure comic De Wonderlijke Avonturen van Anna.

25 years ago July 16, 2001 Maurice de Bevere dies of a pulmonary embolism at age 77. Signing himself “Morris,” he created Lucky Luke.

20 years ago July 14, 2006 Judge Dredd letterer Tom Frame dies of cancer at age 74.

15 years ago July 12, 2011 German artist and teacher Leo Leonhard dies at age 72.

10 years ago July 12, 2016 New Yorker cartoonist Michael Crawford dies of cancer at age 75.

10 years ago July 16, 2016 Award-winning Argentine artist Carlos Nine dies at age 72.

5 years ago July 14, 2021 Danish teacher and award-winning cartoonist Kurt Westergaard dies one day after his 86th birthday.