Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
February 2
1813 - The construction of Fort Meigs begins on the banks of the Maumee River by General Harrison as he prepares for battle with the British in the War of 1812.
1919 - Clark Street Methodist Church catches fire and sustains heavy damage.
1921 - It's reported that a Toledo woman Julianne Charlotte Desmond is a hermit living in an old miner's cabin on Colorado's Pikes Peak. Her only companions are a wolfhound and a cat. Her cabin is visible by the American flag flying over it.
1929 - The “new” Sandusky Bay Bridge is opened. Homing pigeons are used to send the news back to Toledo’s Mayor William Jackson (Only one of the birds ever made it back to Toledo).
1975 - Earth tremors are felt in Sandusky and Seneca counties.
1981 - Eighty fishermen trapped on ice floes on Lake Erie are rescued by Coast Guardsmen.
February 3
1909 - The new Genoa Roller Rink opens in Burman Hall. Lots of people turned out for the opening and the music was provided by the Woodville Juvenile band.
1918 - An experiment by Willys Overland to drive two cars over the ice from Toledo to Cleveland is foiled by deep snow on the ice. The cars were forced off the lake and onto a dirt road.
1950 - Ernest Tiedtke, one of the founding brothers of the famous Toledo department store, dies at the age of 77 in Florida where he was spending the winter.
1975 - Nationally known atheist, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, a 1936 graduate of Rossford High School, tells students at UT she thinks all American churches should be required to pay taxes.
February 4
1862 - Work is underway on construction of POW camp for Confederate Army soldiers at Johnson’s Island in Sandusky Bay.
1898 - Toledo Mayor Samuel Jones orders crackdown on Sunday laws. All saloons and stores must close, no Sunday paper delivery, and concert-goers at Valentine Theater are arrested.
1901 - Masonic Temple in downtown Toledo burns in dramatic blaze.
1929 - William and Henry Bruns of Woodville are recognized as nation’s oldest twins at 95 years of age.
February 5
1907 - Toledo Yacht Club at BayView Park burns to the ground. There were no injuries but thousands of dollars in artwork, trophies, paintings and other equipment and memorabilia is lost.
1927 - Two people are killed in an explosion at First Congregational Church in Toledo. A gas leak is blamed for the cause.
1929 - Herta Zimmerman, 21, of North Toledo selected as “Toledo’s Most Deserving Girl” and will spend a week in California as guest of movie star Mary Pickford.
1930 -The Farmers and Merchants Bank in Sylvania is robbed by five-gun toting bandits of more than $2,000. One of those bandits is the notorious "Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. He is later caught and convicted of the robbery, but escapes on his way to the Ohio penitentiary.
February 6
1888 - Industrialist Edward Drummond Libbey signs contract to move his glass making company and hundreds of workers from Boston to Toledo.
1904 - Six young coal thieves are prosecuted in East Toledo court. The teens testify that they stole the coal because their homes had run out of fuel.
1911 - The News Bee carries a story of a Toledo widow who is looking for a good farm home for her boys, 13 and 11; she can no longer afford to care for. She says "country life could be their salvation.”
1991 - Toledo’s Danny Thomas (Amos Jacobs), comedian, actor, and singer, dies of heart attack at age of 79.
February 7
1866 - Damschreder’s Dry Goods in Elmore is advertising ready-made clothing and caps for sale and also purchasing wool of all kinds at their store near the depot. A few doors down, P.A. Schaenfeld has opened a new grocery and provisions store.
1917 - Alvin Czelusta is shot through the heart at an East Toledo restaurant by the owner because he called her a “vile” name. The owner Evelyn Marleau is arrested and convicted.
1933 - Tiedtke’s department store is selling fresh “bullhead” fish for 18 cents a pound and fresh sirloin steak for 12 cents a pound.
1941 - Department of War orders 1,500 “Jeeps” to be built at the Willys-Overland plant.
1950 - A new bungalow in the Heatherdowns area selling for $10,500.
February 8
1900 - Two local saloon keepers in Pemberville plead guilty to selling liquor on Sunday, thus ending a bitter feud in the community over the situation. One keeper was also charged with using an obscenity in front of a preacher.
1919 - Hundreds of Toledo soldiers from the 329th Regiment return home from France after World War I. Thousands of Toledoans gather to greet the homecoming train.
1937 - Toledo Police arrest the last member of what they call the Baby Dillinger Gang, which had been terrorizing and robbing stores in the Toledo area.
1949 - Plans are being made to greet the Ohio boxcar of the French “Merci” Train in Toledo. The train sent by France to the United States, to say thank you for helping France rebuild after World War II.
