Happy Birthday Gary Larson!

Born in Tacoma Washington in 1950, Gary Larson vacationed in San Francisco in 1979 and showed his portfolio of cartoons to the San Francisco Chronicle. The visionary editors were captivated and not only wanted to run his single-panel creations in the Chronicle but syndicate them as well.

They weren’t thrilled with the title, though. Larson’s previous work in the Seattle Times was called “Nature’s Way.”

The name was changed to “The Far Side.” It debuted on January 1, 1980 and was appearing in 1,900 newspapers when Larson put down his pens and pencils in January 1, 1995.