Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Feb. 15
1888: David Ross Locke, a longtime publisher and writer for The Toledo Blade also known by his pseudonym Petroleum V Nasby, passes away. The iconic American humorist wrote from the viewpoint of a lazy and ignorant bigot, and he was one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorites.
1908: Eight people are killed and 16 more are injured in a horrific collision between an interurban passenger trolley and a Big Four freight train in West Toledo on Phillips Avenue.
1913: A shooting at a dance on the Bailey farm near Curtice ends with the death of a man named Solomon. The gunman is a bartender from Toledo named McLaughlin. It started with a “quarrel over a trivial matter” and Solomon was shot dead. Questions are being raised as to why someone would “tote” a gun to a social dance. The newspaper says alcohol was likely involved.
1923: Firemen battle a major fire at New York Central Freight yards in Toledo as mercury plummets to near zero-degree conditions. Three firemen are burned while fighting the fire.
1945: Toledo fireman Tim Morrissey dies while battling a house fire at 1128 Dorr St.
1967: High winds deal heavy damage to the area, and Wood County is hit especially hard.
1992: Burlington Air DC-8 crashes near Toledo Express Airport, killing four crew members.
Feb. 16
1904: The state of Ohio mourns the passing of Senator Marcus Hanna, who died of typhoid fever.
1929: The grand, $2 million Paramount Theater opens on Adams St. in downtown Toledo amid much fanfare and celebration. The first movie shown was “Redskin,” starring Richard Dix.
1984: Scott Hamilton of Bowling Green wins the gold medal in figure skating at Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
2004: A massive, truss-style crane collapses on the construction site of the new Skyway Bridge over the Maumee River. Four workers are killed and others are seriously injured in the tragedy that shocked the city and delayed the project for more than a year.
Feb. 17
1867: Ice jams create havoc and flooding in downtown Toledo. Some bridges are damaged and knocked loose by moving ice.
1917: The Toledo Yacht Club holds a huge so-called "rat dinner" of fresh muskrat. More than 600 people attend to enjoy the culinary delight.
1921: The largest robbery in Toledo history takes place as Joe Urbaytis and his gang robs a mail truck at the U.S. Post Office on 14th St. between Jefferson and Madison. The gang takes off with $1.6 million in bonds, securities, and cash. They are all eventually caught and convicted in a series of trials.
1925: An arson destroys the Millbury General Store of Peter Martin. He lost all contents and the building. This is the third arson fire in the Millbury area in the past three months.
1943: A fire at 1005 West Woodruff Ave. claims the life of Toledo fireman Howard Rippel.
1949: The oldest tree in Toledo, a 500-year-old white oak, is cut down because of aging and rot. It was located at Detroit and Byrne.
Feb. 18
1883: Floodwaters damage many buildings along the riverfront in downtown Toledo.
1899: Folks in Elmore are talking about several young men who rented a horse and wagon from the Palace Livery and went to a dance in Martin. On their way home, after midnight, the wagon went into a ditch killing the horse. Townsfolk suspected either the young people or the horse had some bad whiskey.
1918: A record low temperature is reported in Bowling Green at -22 degrees.
1927: Harvard Elementary School in South Toledo is dedicated. The castle-like structure is one of Toledo’s most expensive schools, and because of its unique design is mocked as the “Castle on the Maumee.”
1959: A fire blazes through several buildings in Curtice, triggering evacuations and the labor of 100 volunteer firemen to fight the flames. Losses are totaled at more than $300,000.
1971: Federal Court Judge Don Young rules that conditions at Lucas County Jail are sub-human, and that prisoners’ constitutional rights to humane treatment are being violated.
1989: The Coast Guard rescues 175 fishermen from ice floes on Lake Erie.
Feb. 19
1890: The Genoa Board of Education is facing public indignation for trying to discharge veteran teacher D.B. Flickinger. Residents are upset because the popular instructor is being let go without cause and they fear that he, like other fired teachers in Genoa, will win a big lawsuit and cause the school taxes to rise.
1897: The Lakeshore grain elevator on the Maumee riverfront burns in a spectacular windswept inferno.
1923: A doctor and a Toledo nurse die when their car plunges through the lake ice near Put-in-Bay as they are on a medical run to another island.
1941: Washington Daily News reporter Katy Hillgan calls Toledo’s new Willys army vehicle a “Jeep” for the first time in media.
1943: Eighty-six dogs from Toledo leave for duty in WWII as part of the Dogs for Defense project. Almost all the dogs return after war is over.
1953: A fire in a house on Mayo St. in Toledo takes the lives of two children and Toledo fireman Don Timiney.
1954: The University of Toledo men’s basketball team defeats Ohio University, 71-66, to win its first Mid-American Conference title.
Feb. 20
1919: The great booze rush descends on Toledo liquor and beer stores as Michigan residents cross the state line by the thousands to buy beer before supplies run out in “dry” Michigan. Dixie Highway between Toledo and Monroe is reported to be littered with broken-down cars.
1921: Escaped Toledo Post Office robber Joe Urbaytis and several gang members are captured near Chicago on a westbound train.
1946: Safety Director Maurice Meyer outlaws charitable bingo games in Toledo.
1948: A large ammonia tank explodes at Page Dairy on Knapp St. More than 25 people were injured.
Feb. 21
1901: The “Toledo Steam” automobile, built by the American Bicycle Company of Toledo, is advertised in national publications for $900.
1912: A major blizzard hits the Toledo area, stopping street cars and shutting down businesses.
1941: It is reported that a Scott High School senior has lost his lawsuit in Common Pleas Court against a teacher who slapped him across the face for “impudence.”
2007: Toledo Police Detective Keith Dressel is shot and killed by a young teenage suspect in North Toledo, becoming the first Toledo officer killed in the line of duty in over 35 years.
