May 8-14 May 8 1843 - The Wabash and Erie Canal Opens between Toledo and Fort Wayne Indiana. The first canal boat arrives in Toledo. 1902 - Tragedy on the Maumee River near the Ironville docks when seven young people drown on a Sunday school outing after their excursion boat is broadsided by a heavy tugboat. It is still one of the deadliest accidents ever recorded on the Maumee River. 1912 - Two self-styled street preachers set off a small riot on Canton Ave near Woodruff when they begin preaching anti-Jewish messages to a crowd of men and boys near the synagogue. Police say hundreds of boys and men jeered the preachers and then found a carton of eggs and began to hurl them at the "preachers". Police were called and took the two men to jail. 1945 - Germany surrenders to the Allied troops thus ending World War II in Europe. Chaotic scenes of spontaneous jubilation erupt on the streets of Toledo and else in the nation. Reporters say it was "bedlam" in Toledo as downtown was jammed with honking cars and partying pedestrians, as toilet paper rolls were unfurled from office windows. 1956 - A pre-dawn fire destroys the Red Barn dance hall and skating rink on Eber Road and U.S. 20 in Western Lucas County.
May 9 1912 - A dental mystery of great magnitude is being studied in Toledo, as hundreds of dentists meet to see the silver filling in the tooth of 6-year old boy. A filling that he was reportedly born with. John Schnittker of Central Ave is the owner of the molar which his mother says emerged from his gum with a silver filling already in it. His dentist Dr. Lyman Zarbaugh is baffled and calls it a "pre-natal filling of psychic influence". Four hundred dentists have come to Toledo to try to unravel the mystery. 1917 - As U.S. enters the "Great War", American patriotism turns to suspicion of foreign enemies. A gang of local men called the Sixth Troop descend on Greek, Turkish and Romanian businesses in Toledo and force the owners and customers to swear allegiance to America and kiss the flag. 1922 - Band of 17 armed men attack former Walbridge school principal Otto Tracy for alleged "crimes against students" at the school. Tracy is wounded by in his Bowling Green home by the vigilantes. 1923 - An unexpected cold snap hits Toledo. Temperatures plunge to 30 degrees and ground is covered by four inches of fresh new snow. 1930 - Gangster "Happy Harry" Anthony, 29 of East Toledo, is found face down in a Chicago area roadway, riddled with 13 bullets in a gangland-style execution. Toledo friends say he'd left Toledo five weeks ago to work his way into the Chicago mob rackets. 1952 - Toledo grocery stores report an alarming and severe shortage of potatoes. 1969 - Toledo Muni Court Judge Clyde Deeds, 78, refuses to marry a 21-year- old couple in his courtroom because he says there is "too much levity" going on. He was so disgusted; he walked out of the courtroom leaving a stunned bride in tears. Fifteen minutes later, Judge Reno Riley saved the day and performed the ceremony.
May 10 1890 - A newly rebuilt Put-in-Bay House on South Bass Island reopens on the site of the previous hotel that was leveled by flames. 1902 - A mob scene of mourners converges on Forest Cemetery as six of seven the young people who lost their lives in a boating tragedy on the Maumee River are laid to rest. The Toledo Bee reports as many as 2,000 morbid curiosity seekers packed the city graveyard and trampled the sacred ground, picked flowers and gathered other "relics".". 1933 - Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli and several of his gang members are found guilty in the murder of Louise Bell, the girlfriend of rival bootlegger Jackie Kennedy. She was gunned down in an assassination attempt on Kennedy. 1937 - A 22-year-old Evelyn Herzig of Toledo falls five floors from the new Secor Hotel and only sprains her ankle. Doctors are still pondering the miraculous survival mystery. She apparently fell from room 805 and landed with such force on the roof of the ballroom, five stories below; it left a dent in rooftop. She was taken to Flower Hospital for a sprained ankle. 1962 - Ten people are killed and more than 40 people are injured in a massive explosion at a chemical plant on Oak Street in East Toledo. The fire at the Maumee Chemical factory is still listed as the city's deadliest fire. It rattled windows for miles around. The plant had at one time been a beer brewery; Home Brewing and Koerber's Brewing. 1968 - A major blaze at the Westgate Shopping Center causes heavy damage and destroys nine stores in the popular complex. 1973 - A tornado sweeps out of the sky that mows a straight line of terrain through Seneca County and into Willard. Five people would perish in the storm and many homes, barns and business were torn to shreds.
May 11 1900 - An average day on the Toledo Police blotter shows that 23 people were arrested in the past 24 hours, seven of them for not having proper bells and lamps on their bicycles. Other charges ranged from loitering, theft and adultery. 1901- Toledo Police have arrested a man they call "Jack the Clipper". He is accused of using a pair of scissors to clip the long locks of several girls who were standing in a crowd of pedestrians at Summit and Adams. He was chased down by a witness. The case has caused a stir in Wood County where the "clipper" is identified as 35-year old Ross Mounts, a County Clerk from Bloomdale. 1924 - Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first African-American to play in the major leagues while a player with the Toledo Blue Stockings dies in Cleveland. Walker played in the 1884 season for the Toledo Club when it was part of the American Association. 1936 - The city of Toledo votes to annex Point Place. 1940 - A scarlet fever outbreak in rampant in Toledo. The local health department says so far there are 94 people ill with the fever.
May 12 1855 - Toledo fire crews battle one of the city's first major blazes as a very large barn is consumed by fire. The flames killed livestock and horses that were housed inside. 1894 - Elmore Bicycle Company announces it will move its operation to nearby Clyde where a short time later the company would begin producing Elmore automobiles. 1925 - Toledo Patrolman Walter Mullen was shot and killed by his partner's revolver as they pursued two suspects on the far north end of Front Street. Officer Fred Reasor says one of the men they were looking for had a gun in his hand, so he fired several times. One of the bullets went through a shed door and struck his partner Patrolman Mullen. The wound was not thought to be serious, but Mullen died eight days later from the wound. 1934 - A car train collision at New York Central tracks south of Toledo leaves four people dead. 1936 - In Toledo, the FBI makes a dramatic early hours arrest of fugitive Harry Campbell. The FBI raid on the apartment on Monroe Street is actually led by FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover. Campbell had been essentially hiding in "plain sight" in Toledo for years after taking part in two notorious kidnappings in Minnesota and train robbery in Ohio. Campbell was living under an alias and has actually become a casual acquaintance with the Lucas County Sheriff.
May 13 1833 - The first plot of land is sold in what would later become the city of Toledo. At the time it was a town called Port Lawrence. 1852 - Toledo City Council approves the establishment of a volunteer police force. 1903 - Researchers claim to have found the location of where Colonel William Crawford was burned at the stake near Tymochtee Creek near Upper Sandusky. 1930 - Cowboy movie star Tom Mix and his horse, "Tony" are in Toledo doing circus shows at the Stickney Ave Fairgrounds. 1941 - Lamson Brothers Department Store features a special fashion show that exhibits fashions through the centuries, including a glove from King Tut, and the gloves worn by Mary Queen of Scots for her execution.
1975 - Westwood Theater on Sylvania Avenue is ordered closed for one year after being found guilty of showing the films, "The Stewardesses" and "Deep Throat", in violation of obscenity laws in Toledo. 1981 - The Toledo Police Memorial honoring officers who died in the line of duty is dedicated at the Civic Center Mall.
May 14 1842 - The city of Toledo forms its first official school district. 1886 - Arthur Glover of Wood County, convicted of killing an "aged" lady in a robbery is executed by hanging at the hands of Sheriff Murray Brown at the State Penitentiary in Columbus It was the last execution in Ohio to be carried out by the local county sheriff where the criminal was convicted. 1900 - Large amounts of ice are still being reported on the Great Lakes and the ice floes are proving to be a hazard to some of the ships that are underway. 1938 - The Lakeshore Electric Interurban trolley, the LSE, makes its final run between Toledo and Sandusky. There is no special observance for the occasion after 41 years of operation. Bus service replaces the train the next morning. 1975 - Linda Jefferson, Toledo native and star running back for the Toledo Troopers women's football team is voted "Woman Sport of the Year" by Women Sport Magazine. The Toledo Troopers began playing in 1971 and were the league champions every year through 1979. Overall record 59-4.
The Press 1550 Woodville Road Millbury, OH 43447
The Press 1550 Woodville Road Millbury, OH 43447