This Week In Toledo History

The Week of April 30 to May 6
April 30
1879 - An actress, Lillie Ellis, at the Adelphi Theater is shot through the neck by a jealous husband at Hooper House hotel. He then shot and killed himself.
1908 -The Horseshoer’s Union threatening to strike in Toledo over increasing use of machine-made vs. man-made horseshoes.
1914 - An army of women armed with brooms and shovels take to the streets of East Toledo as part of a larger campaign to clean the city.
1930 - Esther Antin, a Toledo attorney, gets scores of marriage proposals now that she made national news by acting as the prosecutor in a murder trial of a woman in Toledo. Antin is first woman in the state to ever prosecute a murder case. She is getting marriage proposals from men around the nation.

May 1
1813 - War breaks out on the Maumee River as British troops begin the historic siege of Fort Meigs at Perrysburg.
1854 - The new Toledo High School opens in downtown Toledo.
1884 - Moses Fleetwood Walker plays first major league game with Toledo Blue Stockings in a contest against Louisville, thus becoming the first African American to play in a major league baseball game.
1899 - Henry Altman was fishing near Bean Creek in Williams County and claims to have seen a fast moving funnel shaped craft with a fan type of appliance on top of it.
1918 - Toledo's notorious segregated district known as the "Tenderloin", closes down for good by order of the War Department. More than 8,000 workers of the saloons and houses of ill repute are sent packing.
1940 - Two cars plunge out of a third story garage at Brown Motor Sales on Main Street in East Toledo. There were no injuries, but plenty of damage.
1959 - The first ocean-going ship, the “Prinz Willem George Frederik,” docks in Toledo after using the new St. Lawrence Seaway.
1966 - Rising lake levels flood much of Jerusalem Township lake shore area. Over 500 people get typhoid inoculations as a precaution.

May 2
1937- Kelsey and Freeman Lumber Company destroyed by flames at 1225 Indiana Ave.
1962 - The Dutch Elm disease reported to be "out of control" in Toledo. More than 6200 elms have been cut down so far, and thousands more may come down in the future.
1976 - Toledo first public radio station, WGTE-FM begins broadcasting.
1978 - The long and bitter Toledo school teachers strike comes to an end after Toledo Board of Education members threaten to fire 3,800 striking teachers and workers if they don’t return to school and resume classes.
1983 - Tornado hits North Baltimore area in Wood County. One person killed.

May 3
1838 - First church building opens in Toledo at corner of Superior and Cherry.
1903 - Tragedy strikes nine Polish excursionists from Toledo when they are run over by a locomotive in Detroit. Hundreds had been waiting on the tracks for the return train to Toledo.
1919 - Three rum runners drown as they tried to cross Lake Erie during a heavy thunderstorm. Their launch washed up on Toledo Beach with 60 cases of whiskey aboard, but no sign of the three men.
1954 - Grant Murray Field at Waite High School is dedicated.
1966 - WDHO-TV Channel 24, owned by Daniel H. Overmyer, begins broadcasting in Toledo as city’s third commercial TV station. It would later become WNWO-TV.

May 4
1910 - Toledo is now listed as fourth largest rail center in the U.S. behind Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago.
1934 - Machine gun toting bandits, including outlaw John Dillinger, shoot four people in daylight bank robbery in Fostoria.
1940 - Two Toledo men are sentenced for violating Toledo's new jay-walking law. They got a suspended sentence and a 10 minute lecture from Judge Straub.
1944 - As part of the war conservation effort, Toledo hotels and restaurants continue observing two meatless days per week.

May 5
1813 - Hundreds of Kentucky militiamen, under the command of Colonel William Dudley, during War of 1812, are killed near Maumee River by Indians who had lured them into an ambush. Dudley and at least 220 militiamen are killed.

1883 - First professional game of baseball is played in Toledo as the Toledo Blue Stockings take to the field against Bay City, winning the game 5-4 in 10 innings. The game was played at League Park at Monroe Street and 15th St.
1908 - Toledo Police officer James Boyle, an 11-year veteran with the department, is ambushed and killed while looking for suspects near downtown Toledo. As Sergeant Boyle was questioning several men, one of them pulled a revolver and opened fire.
1919 - A strike begins by workers at the Willys Overland and Auto-Lite factories. Seven-thousand members of the Auto Trades Council fail to reach agreement with the companies on wages. Deadly violence would erupt and two men were killed.
1924 -Toledo Post Office robbery suspects Joe and Frank Urbaytis, who escaped from the Lucas County Jail in 1921, are recaptured near Columbus. Joe Urbaytis is wounded in a shootout with police, but recovers and returned to Toledo for trial.
2005 - The end of an era as the Showcase Cinemas on Secor Road close. They had been operating since 1964. First Toledo theater to offer 70 mm first run features.

May 6
1922 -The Carranor Hunt and Polo Club opens in Perrysburg.
1932 -Toledo police probe the brutal murder of Winifred Rafferty in the Old West End. She was walking to work at Robinwood Hospital when she was attacked
1945 - The USS Toledo, a heavy cruiser, is launched from the Camden New Jersey Shipyards. Many dignitaries from Toledo are on hand for the ceremonies.
1975 -Toledo Goaldiggers make Toledoans cheer as they win International Hockey League championship and Turner Cup.