Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Aug. 3
1795: The Treaty of Greenville is signed as a result of General Anthony Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers in 1794, requiring Native American tribes to give up large tracts of land in Ohio.
1846: Samuel “Golden Rule” Jones is born in Wales. He would later become Toledo’s most famous and influential mayor.
1898: The groundbreaking for the Ford plate glass factory in Rossford takes place.
1931: The Toledo-based Standard Stove company says it has shipped one of its very large stoves to the Chicago home of William Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate and owner of the Cubs.
1936: So-called “Tin Can Tourists,” referred to as RV’ers in present day, begin to descend on Sandusky with 500 trailers for an annual camping conclave.
1945: Toledo zookeeper Louis Durliat loses two fingers and a thumb when they are bitten off by “Bob” the chimpanzee while he was cleaning its cage.
1963: "The General," which is the famous locomotive commandeered at Big Shanty, Ga. by Andrews’ Raiders in the Civil War, arrives at Toledo's Union Station. The daring hijacking episode eventually ended after a dramatic chase by Confederate soldiers. Several of the “raiders” were caught and executed. Others escaped and were awarded the first Medals of Honor. Many of the locomotive’s 19 crew members were from Northwest Ohio.
1972: The Southwyck Mall on Reynolds Road opens for business. It would close 36 years later on June 29, 2008.
Aug. 4
1894: A fire lays waste to a large area of downtown Oak Harbor, including the Portage Hotel.
1910: Mayor Brand Whitlock orders Toledo police not to arrest boys for swimming in the Maumee River until “suitable” swimming pools are built in the city for their “rightful” use.
1916: A long heat wave that started in July is continuing. The humane officer for Toledo says at least 25 horses have died from the heat, and police say the heat wave has triggered a crime wave.
1922: A 68-year-old Toledo washer woman inherits $365,000 from two wealthy uncles. Mary Wiggins Shultz, who had spent much of her life doing cleaning work at the Pythian Castle, will now get to enjoy a much different life and future.
1981: Cynthia Anderson, a secretary working for a law firm in North Toledo, vanishes from the office. She is never found. It is speculated that she may have been kidnapped and murdered by unknown people involved in drug trafficking.
Aug. 5
1905: News reports say Toledo has become a hub for human slave traffic from Canada. Young girls from Montreal are being lured to Toledo with promises of employment only to be put into immoral servitude.
1922: Frank Stranahan is born. The son of Champion spark plug founder Robert Stranahan eventually grows up to become a famous long distance runner and champion amateur golfer, winning more than 70 tournaments across the nation.
1944: Hundreds of German POW's, held in southern Michigan, march down the streets of Blissfield, Mich. to help with fall tomato and beet harvest duties.
1952: Toledo Mud Hens owner Danny Menendez is indicted for season ticket sales fraud after moving the team to West Virginia.
1979: The Gulf Oil Refinery on Front Street in East Toledo catches fire after a lightning strike. The blaze consumes a million gallons of gasoline and could be seen for 40 miles.
Aug. 6
1864: The Battle of Utoy Creek near Atlanta leaves three young soldiers from Genoa dead on the battlefield, and many others were wounded. It represented one of the deadliest days for Genoa and Clay Township soldiers in the Civil War.
1893: Five people are killed and many other are injured in a train collision near Lindsey. The fast-moving express passenger train on the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern line clipped a freight train, sending the passenger train off the rails. Two baseball players from Chicago were injured.
1900: It’s reported that Dennis Coghlin of Toledo has died. The native of Ireland was reputed to be the wealthiest man in the city. He owned several large city blocks, had major investments in local banks, and was the owner of a large brewery.
1902: Toledo records show that there are now some 88 automobiles in use around the city.
1908: The fashionable Hotel Secor opens in downtown Toledo with much fanfare as opening festivities host the “who's who” of the city and feature the finest of food and hospitality. The hotel says it has 304 rooms and 189 of them have private baths. Nightly rates start at $1.50.
1935: The old Milburn Wagon Works factory in Toledo is being readied for demolition. The old bricks will be salvaged for use on projects at the Toledo Zoo.
1958: Five people, including a policeman, are shocked by lightning at the Wood County Fair during a thunderstorm.
Aug. 7
1912: It’s reported by the humane society that over the past month there has been 54 reports of fathers and two mothers neglecting their children in Toledo.
1914: Toledo police patrolman Albert Schultz is shot and killed while investigating a burglary.
1923: Thousands of people descend on Deshler to watch the passing of President Warren G. Harding's funeral train through the Northwest Ohio town en route to Washington, D.C.
1946: Progress is being made in Genoa this week on the installation of lights for night football at Bergman Field. People are hopeful the lights will be ready for the team’s home opener in September.
1956: Grove Patterson, a nationally-known Toledo Blade editor and author, dies. He is remembered as “Toledo’s No. 1 citizen.”
Aug. 8
1880: Toledo’s population is reported to be 50,137.
1894: An interurban train now links Toledo and Perrysburg.
1908: Toledo humane officer Charles Ware reports that his records show that for the past 15 years, at least three Toledo wives are beaten by their husbands every day on average.Ware labels it an epidemic that is getting worse.
1911: A premature blast of dynamite at the White Rock Quarry in Clay Center kills one worker, John Tell of Clay Center, and it injures seven others. The reason for the premature explosion is unknown.
1911: The 26-foot “F.H. Prince” sinks near Kelley’s Island.
1916: Toledo is coping with the worst mosquito invasion that locals can ever recall. The city’s health commissioner expresses concern.
1951: A U.S. Air Force pilot, along with witnesses on the ground, see a strange cigar-shaped object flying in the sky near Port Clinton over Lake Erie.
1962: Stanley “Skip” Jechura, the owner of Raceway Park, and another man, are killed in plane crash near Flint, Mich.
Aug. 9
1894: Electric streetcars make their first run from Toledo to Perrysburg as part of the Maumee Valley Streetcar Company.
1905: The Cherry Street Bridge tender is fired after almost failing to get the draw spans up in time to allow a loaded passenger ship to pass through. With little warning to traffic, a streetcar nearly plunged into the river. The tender is said to be in “no condition” to work that night.
1929: Federal and state agents raid an illegal 1,000-gallon moonshine still on Matzinger Road. Two men are arrested.
1930: Three recent Libbey High School graduates make news by driving to California and back to Toledo in their $20 flivver, an early 20th-century slang term for an automobile.
1932: Radio broadcasting of fire alarms begins in the city.
