This Week In Toledo History - Feb. 9-15

Feb. 9
1945 - Lt. Jacob Chandler of Toledo is killed in action during heavy fighting in Italy during World War II. Chandler had been a Toledo policeman before the war and was the only TPD officer killed while serving in wartime. He is buried at the American cemetery near Florence, Italy.
 
1962 - Robert Stranahan, founder of Toledo’s Champion Spark Plug Company, dies at his West Central Ave. home at the age of 75.
 
1963 - The Toledo Sports Center on Starr Ave. is destroyed by fire.
 
1983 - 4,000 hopeful job applicants line up for 200 new jobs at Whirlpool plant in Clyde.
 
Feb. 10
1921 - A two-week-old baby girl found in a basket on a doorstep on the 3100 block of Kimball Ave. in Toledo. The baby was apparently born in a Detroit hospital before being abandoned.
 
1929 - Toledo Police arrest 42 people in a series of raids for bootlegging and gambling.
 
1931 - Classes open for the first time at the new University Hall on the new UT campus on Bancroft.
 
1933 - A massive fire destroys the popular Vita Temple Theater on St. Clair St. in downtown Toledo. The theater, constructed in 1862, had originally been a church, then converted to a dance hall and roller rink before becoming home to the theater. A severe sub-zero cold snap hampered fire-fighting efforts and triggered more than 25 fires in Toledo in a 24-hour period.
 
Feb. 11
1881 - Ice jams and ice floes cause major damage to buildings and boats in downtown Toledo. There is heavy flooding in the downtown area along Water St..
 
1929 - Toledo movie houses are promoting their "talking" pictures. At the State Theater, "In Old Arizona" is said to be the first talking picture filmed outdoors in Arizona.
 
1936 - Three icebound freighters in the river declared hazard to Cherry St. Bridge and are ordered out of harbor. Workers blast ice out of river with dynamite to move the ships.
 
1959 - Ice jams break loose in Grand Rapids, causing major flooding along Maumee River. Major floods also hit downtown Fremont on Sandusky River.
 
Feb. 12
1900 – The Toledo Police Court is forced to change locations after smallpox fumigation kills rats under floor, creating an unbearable stench.
 
1906 - The Wood County sheriff apprehends accused killer Frank McGuire during a chase on the ice-covered Maumee River near the Fassett St. bridge. McGuire is wanted in the slaying of Perrysburg Marshal Frank Thornton, but later escapes from jail.
 
1935 - Hundreds of Boy Scouts from Toledo area visit over 1,300 patients in local hospitals to wish them well and give them flowers.
 
1999 – A Life Flight helicopter crashes into a home in Central Toledo during a snow squall, injuring the pilot, nurse and doctor on board.
 
Feb. 13
1894 - A massive blaze wipes out much of the Genoa business district. Those businesses burned in the pre-dawn blaze out include the Moore Meat Market, two saloons, a candy store and a shoe store.
 
1900 - Large crowds are gathered in Fremont for the trial of Louis Billow, accused of the shotgun murder of farmer Jacob Hess and blowing up his house. Billow, according to Sandusky County prosecutors, was upset because Hess’s daughter had refused to marry him.
 
1956 – A downtown gas explosion kills three people at Higrade Beagle Meat Packing. Numerous buildings are leveled on Superior St.
 
1998 – There is terror on the streets of Toledo when Vivian Morris is stabbed to death in her West Toledo apartment and her son is wounded in the attack. Suspect Joe Chappel then goes on rampage and shoots another woman to death on Barrows St.. He is stopped by police and shot dead at Monroe and Secor.
 
Feb. 14
1838 – The Toledo City Council establishes salaries for city workers - city marshal and city attorney each get $40 monthly, while city treasurer gets two percent of money handled.
 
1848 – The first regular telegraph service reaches Toledo. It will immediately change the speed of news delivery to local newspapers.
 
1905 - The Burman Brothers of Elmore and Genoa advertise undertaking along with furniture repair and upholstery services.
 
1925 - Plans are announced to erect the Bell building on Huron St. between Jefferson and Monroe. The $3 million structure will allow the phone company to automate the Toledo phone system.
 
1940 - Tragedy strikes as a doctor, his wife and two children perish when their car goes through frozen Lake Erie as they drove over the ice to Middle Bass Island.
 
Feb. 15
1888 - David Ross Locke passes away. Locke was longtime publisher and writer for the Toledo Blade. An iconic American humorist, he was known to many by his pseudonym Petroleum V. Nasby. His satirical column in which he wrote from the viewpoint of a lazy and ignorant bigot was one of Abraham Lincoln's favorites.
 
1908 - Eight people are killed and 16 injured in a horrific collision between an interurban passenger trolley and a Big Four freight train in West Toledo on Phillips Ave.
 
1945 - Toledo fireman Tim Morrissey dies while battling house fire at 1128 Dorr St.
 
1967 - High winds deal heavy damage to area. Wood County hit especially hard.