Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Aug. 24
1908: A Toledo courtroom is filled with laughter when 24 people are arrested for running a “disorderly house” on South Erie Street. The accused perform a “minstrel show” to the delight of the court.
1951: A very special train takes 750 people from the Elmore area on a ride to Toledo using the old New York City tracks. This was the last time a passenger train would run on the tracks.
1986: A fuzzy image of Jesus is said to be visible on the side of a soybean silo in Fostoria, and thousands of people line up to see the vision. The image becomes nationally famous as “Soybean Jesus.”
Aug. 25
1875: The schooner, Mayflower, sinks near Marblehead in Lake Erie.
1898: The Burt Theater opens at Jefferson and Ontario Streets. Named for its owner, Frank Burt, the theater features Vaudeville shows and has a 1,500-seat capacity — including a "fat man's row" for men of ample girth.
1915: Toledo patrolman Adolf Reimer dies from gunshot wounds he suffered three weeks earlier when answering a disturbance call.
1946: A deadly disaster is averted when a 38-foot cabin cruiser from Toledo — The Albatross — is mistakenly attacked by three U.S. Navy warplanes, or Corsairs, doing target practice near West Sister Island. Seven fishermen are injured, but it could have been worse.
1960: A mystery cannon ball of unknown origin is given to the Toledo Zoo. It was found buried in a bank of the Maumee River near Waterville.
Aug. 26
1909: The nationally promoted wacky six-day King Wamba Carnival gets underway in Toledo. It is billed as the “Mardi Gras of the North.”
1929: An 84-year-old champion pigeon racer in Toledo, “Daddy” Charles Soen of Erie Street, loses his entire prize flock of racing birds to thieves. The birds are national champions including “Theodore the IV” that won a 1,000-mile race from Texas.
1916: "Lottie Mayer and her Six Diving Nymphs" perform at the Toledo Beach.
1935: Heart disease takes the life of pioneer Toledo automaker and former Ambassador to Poland, John North Willys, at his home in New York. His wife and family are at his bedside when he passes.
1949: Thousands of onlookers flock to downtown Toledo to watch as fire destroys a building in 600 block of Adams Street.
1983: The Bettsville Fire Station in Sandusky County is destroyed by fire.
Aug. 27
1909: John North Willys announces he will bring another factory to Toledo as the Warner Gear factory will be moved to Toledo from Muncie, Ind. and employ 500 workers.
1921: The “Human Fly,” Mrs. Dolly O’Brine, scales the side of the Masonic Building in Bowling Green, drawing excited crowds of onlookers.
1924: A nine-year-old boy from Toledo, Ralph Roberts, is charged with murder after he put a block of wood on a train track in Millfield, Ohio — causing a derailment in which two engineers were killed. He says he did it because it was an “experiment.”
1967: A great tragedy occurs when 16 skydivers perish on a jump over Lake Erie near Huron, Ohio.
Aug. 28
1904: The first paying passengers are transported on the new Toledo-Port Clinton-Lakeside railway. The train is a steam locomotive instead of electric.
1906: A woman is reported to be a “living statue.” Anna Fuzee is arrested on a “lunacy charge” as she just stares off into space. Deputies say it feels like her body has turned to stone.
1913: East Toledo residents complain that crime is too rampant on their streets and they need more police patrols.
1919: Railroad detective J.J. Boss, who surprised a pair of burglars aboard a train boxcar at Graytown, is shot by one of the bandits and later dies at a Toledo hospital.
1929: A stubborn blaze destroys the six-story plant of the Toledo Grain and Milling Company at Harrison and Mills Streets. Damage is set at $800,000.
1930: Construction begins on the new $450,000 University of Toledo fieldhouse, which will feature an indoor arena for football and track.
1932: More than 12,000 people jam Willow Beach Park in Point Place to help celebrate the “Fair and Square Clubs.” It is one of the largest events ever held at the park.
1940: TV producer Bonnie Turner is born in Toledo. Along with her husband, Terry, the duo is best known for creating the TV shows 3rd Rock from the Sun and That ‘70s Show, as well as the movie Wayne’s World.
1958: Future Olympic Gold Medal figure skater Scott Hamilton born in Bowling Green.
1976: A tragic fire erupts in the horse barns at Toledo's Raceway Park, ultimately killing 40 horses.
1977: The first power is generated at the Davis Besse Nuclear Power station and fed into the electric grid.
1993: The USS Toledo submarine is launched at Norfolk, Va.
Aug. 29
1870: Toledo’s population is growing, now listed at 31,600.
1901: East Toledo residents are reporting strange lights in the night skies, and it remains a mystery. Some witnesses liken it to a lantern in the sky that vanishes when they try to get near it.
1914: Toledo’s first female food inspector, Mrs. Elizabeth Schauss, institutes new rules for food handlers in restaurants in the city, including hair nets for female workers.
1924: Seven members of the Cyrus Updegraff Family of Wood County are killed when their car is hit by a train in Perrysburg.
1929: A.M. Barlow, the postmaster of North Baltimore, is the oldest postal worker in the U.S., celebrating his 87th birthday.
1947: Eleven people are injured in a train crash at Union Station in Toledo.
Aug. 30
1900: Three East Toledo boys are in trouble for stealing watermelons from a railroad car and selling them around the neighborhood.
1902: Joe LaBarge, a young Toledo lothario and house painter known as "Steeple Jack,” was chased down and killed by a group of men in Monroe, Mich. Labarge was with his mistress — a married woman — when someone saw him in her house and thought he was attacking her. A vigilante mob began chasing him and he was shot dead. Two men were later charged and acquitted.
1903: The state of Ohio sets a new policy that all high school students must study spelling.
1934: Pearson Park is dedicated in honor of Toledo Blade reporter and East Side booster, George Pearson, who made it his personal crusade to save that section of first growth forest to be set aside for a park.
1955: Actress Mamie Van Doren comes to Toledo to wed band leader Ray Anthony.
1972: Toledo gets a double dose of bad news when it is announced that Buckeye Beer will close its historic brewery in North Toledo after more than 130 years in operation. On the same day, it is revealed that Tiedtke's, an icon among the early downtown department stores, will be closing its doors forever.
