Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
May 11
1901: Toledo police arrest a man they call "Jack the Clipper." He is accused of using scissors to clip the long locks of several girls and is later identified as 35-year old Ross Mounts, a county clerk from Bloomdale.
1909: News articles are being published nationwide about the death of Toledo’s Alanson Wood, the inventor of the roller coaster. Wood is memorialized as the forgotten innovator of the “ride that made people scream.” He was 80 and died in poverty in Toledo.
1924: Moses Fleetwood Walker passes away. He was a former Toledo Blue Stocking player who was the first African-American to play professional baseball.
1936: Toledo City Council votes to annex Point Place.
1940: Toledo city health commissioner says scarlet fever outbreak is rampant with 94 cases reported.
1983: Construction gets underway on the new Maumee River historic excursion boat, the “Arawanna Princess.”
May 12
1855: Toledo fire crews battle one of the city’s first major fires as a very large barn is hit by flames, killing the horses inside.
1894: The Elmore Bicycle company moves its operations from Elmore to nearby Clyde in Sandusky County. The company will later produce the Elmore automobile.
1907: “Golden Rule,” a circus horse named in honor of Toledo’s former mayor “Golden Rule” Jones, dies as the Robinson Circus coincidentally happens to be in Toledo for performances. It said he died from so called tobacco heart, after his long time habit of using “chewing tobacco.”
1911: The Toledo High School track team earns high praise for winning the Northwest Ohio regional meet in Bowling Green. The young athletes took 10 of the 12 events.
1925: Toledo patrolman Walter Mullen was shot and killed by his partner as they pursued two suspects on Front Street. One of the bullets fired from his partner's gun struck Mullen.
1934: A car-train collision at the New York Central tracks south of Toledo leaves four dead.
May 13
1833: First plot of land sold in early Toledo area known as Port Lawrence.
1852: City of Toledo approves the establishment of a volunteer police force.
1903: Researchers claim to find the location where Colonel William Crawford was burned at the stake by Indians in 1786 near Upper Sandusky along Tymochtee Creek.
1930: Cowboy movie star Tom Mix and his horse, "Tony," are in Toledo for circus shows at the Stickney Ave Fairgrounds. He later stopped by the Toledo police firing range to try out his guns.
1938: Toledoans learn that Robert Gardner, former Lucas County Sheriff from 1915 to 1919, died at the age of 85. The East Toledoan was from one of the first pioneer families to arrive in Toledo's Presque Isle area.
1941: Lamson's department store features a special fashion show that exhibits fashions through the centuries, including a glove from King Tut and the gloves worn by Mary, Queen of Scots, for her execution.
1975: The Westwood Theater on Sylvania Avenue is ordered closed for one year after being found guilty of showing the films “The Stewardesses” and “Deep Throat,” which are ruled to be obscene.
1981: A Toledo police memorial honoring those officers who died in the line of duty is dedicated at Civic Center Mall.
May 14
1802: The first Christian religious service held in the Toledo area when Reverend David Bacon preaches to tribes of local Indians.
1842: The city of Toledo forms its first official school district.
1886: Convicted killer Arthur Glover of Wood County executed by Sheriff George Murray Brown in a hanging in Columbus. It was the last execution in Ohio carried out by the county sheriff of the county where the crime occurred.
1908: A riot breaks out on the campus of Ohio Northern University in Ada. A dispute between junior and seniors results in juniors breaking into the armory and using rifles to shoot a senior banner to shreds and then forcing senior classmen to run a gauntlet of fisticuffs and insults.
1924: Genoa and Elmore residents are treated to a special sight when the colorful Barnum and Bailey circus train rolls through their villages, eastbound on the New York Central tracks early in the morning.
1926: Genoa area residents are getting excited about the announced opening of the new amusement park called “Forest Park” on Woodville Road.
1929: The New Elk Theater is blown up shortly after the last movie of the night. No one injured in the apparent mob hit.
1932: Road rage incident at Monroe and 14th Street when a pedestrian gets into a fight with two men in a car. One of them pulls a gun and shoots him three times.
1938: The last Lakeshore Electric Interurban makes final run between Toledo and Sandusky. There is no special observance after 41 years of operation. Bus service begins the next morning.
1958: Christine Brennan is born in Toledo. Brennan would become one of the most recognized sports reporters and writers in America.
1975: Linda Jefferson, Toledo native and star running back for the Toledo Troopers women's football team, is voted "Woman Athlete of the Year" by WomenSport magazine. The Toledo Troopers began playing in 1971 and were the league champions every year through 1979, with an overall record of 59-4.
May 15
1863: Several Southern Confederate Army “recruiters” apprehended in the Northern States are executed by firing squad at Johnson’s Island POW camp on Sandusky Bay.
1902: Police arrest a white man and black woman because they were living together. Both are jailed and fined $20 each in police court.
1908: It's reported that a dog bit 11 people in Maumee and was rabid. All of victims will have to undergo a series of painful shots.
1926: The safety building in downtown Toledo is officially opened to the public.
1929: An explosive fire erupts at famed Cleveland Clinic and spreads through hospital building, killing 125 patients and staff members.
1973: Toledo Mayor Harry Kessler calls the old Edison steam plant in downtown Toledo “an eyesore.” He wants it demolished and removed from the riverfront. It was later renovated to serve as the headquarters for ProMedica Healthcare.
2001: A runaway train begins a wild 60-mile journey south on the CSX tracks that began in Walbridge rail yards. The nationally broadcast news drama finally ends when a brave railroad worker hops on the rolling locomotive and brings it to a stop in Hardin County. Dubbed the Crazy Eights incident, the moment later inspires the movie, Unstoppable, with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. Jennifer Boresz, a former WTOL 11 reporter, had a bit role in the movie.
May 16
1855: The schooner, “Visitor,” sinks in storm near West Sister Island. The captain goes down with his ship.
1899: Large-scale tornadoes sweep through northwest Ohio, causing many fatalities and heavy damage. The Montpelier, Ohio schoolhouse is blown down, killing eight students and injuring many others.
1904: A study by Toledo Public Schools shows that the vast majority of those who graduate from Toledo’s High School are from well-to-do families of the city, as the poor students are forced to drop out because they must work to support their families. The study also says the high school has become a social center for fraternities and sororities that often ostracize the poor.
1935: Safety director Price orders “hoodlum squad” to start closing down all of the illegal gambling clubs in downtown Toledo. Three of the most prominent clubs are in the 400 block of Superior Street and have been running openly for months.
1947: The smallpox vaccine is rushed to the Fostoria area after a migrant worker dies from smallpox and others are exposed.
1953: Springfield Township firemen hold a stag party of 1,500 people that gets out of control at the Secor Armor. It was raided by Toledo police and three women were arrested for indecent exposure. Others were arrested for gambling. Police said fisticuffs and chairs were thrown at officers before the men eventually scattered.
May 17
1838: Last rains fall in Toledo area before the great drought of that era gets underway.
1881: Louis Weigand of Toledo, a well known grocery store owner and reputed stolen goods buyer, dies from eating 32 hard boiled eggs in a wager with the butcher in his shop as to who could eat the most. The butcher is also reported to be very ill. A Bucyrus, Ohio newspaper, upon reporting the story, called it a “waste of eggs”.
1894: A devastating tornado hits Williams County town of Kunkle and nearby Montpelier. At least 10 people are killed, scores are injured and 50 houses are reported destroyed.
1899: A weather observer reports that more than four inches of rain fell in a 12-hour downpour in Western Ottawa County.
1913: For the first time ever, a Toledo fire engine becomes motorized when it is hooked up to a gasoline tractor and can reach speeds of up to 25 miles-per-hour. It was one of three given to Toledo on a trial basis.
1919: Construction gets underway for 80,000 seat arena at Bay View Park to seat the expected large crowds for the Jack Dempsey-Jess Willard fight in July.
1927: It’s revealed in the News Bee that Johnny Mack of Toledo, convicted of a payroll robbery in 1922 is innocent, but despite efforts for clemency by the judge and Lucas County prosecutor, he is still being held in prison in Columbus. He is eventually released a few months later.
1961: Betty Jean Jeska of Swanton wins national competition as “Junior Cook of the Year.” The 17-year-old wins a trip to Europe and $5,000 with a peanut streusel pie.
