Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Nov. 30
1905: Toledo police chief Knapp says he thinks many young boys are led into a life of crime by attending "blood and thunder" melodramas that glamorize murder and criminal behavior.
1932: Rival bootleggers make an attempt on the life of Toledo bootlegger and nightclub owner Jack Kennedy in downtown Toledo. He survives the attack, but his girlfriend, Louise Bell, is killed in the crossfire.
1967: It's reported that a local sailor from Millbury, Michael Lindner, is one of the infamous “Intrepid Four” who deserted from the aircraft carrier, Intrepid, while it was docked in Japan. Lindner, 19, spent most of his life in Millbury but had recently moved with his parents to Pennsylvania. He and the other sailors say they left their ship because they didn't agree with U.S. war policy in Vietnam. Former classmates and friends from Lake High School express shock and disbelief. He later defected to Sweden.
Dec. 1
1886: Oil is struck in Henry Township near North Baltimore on the farm of David Fulton, unleashing a 600-barrel-a-day well.
1915: The small community of Hamler is terrorized by bandits who blew up a bank safe and shot at every citizen on the street.
1918: Toledo's four breweries cease all beer production as a result of the new federal prohibition on manufacturing of booze.
1928: A 15-year-old Toledo girl arrested for bootlegging after she confessed that it was the only way she was able to help her family get money.
1983: Donna Owens is sworn in as the first woman mayor of Toledo.
Dec. 2
1900: Charges are filed against the owners of the Jockey Saloon, located in the 800 block of Summit Street, where a 14-year-old girl from Bowling Green was found on the premises. Her mother alleged she had been enticed there to meet men.
1923: A riot breaks out during Sunday services at thee Greek Orthodox Church in Toledo at Walnut and Superior Street, when 50 people crash the service and try to drag the newly installed pastor from the altar. More than 20 policemen were called to break up the fist fights and shoving matches between members.
1927: It's reported that the remains of an octopus were found during an excavation in Mud Creek in Ottawa County between Port Clinton and Fremont. The strange discovery was made when the octopus was found in the jaws of a steam shovel. The fish is said to be seven feet long, and one arm was four feet long. The carcass has been tacked up on the side of a barn, drawing many spectators.
1942: The oil tanker, “Cleveco,” and the tug boat, “Admiral,” sink in Lake Erie on a trip from Toledo to Cleveland. All 31 crewmen are lost from the two boats. The oil aboard the Cleveco is not pumped out and recovered until 50 years later.
1974: Toledo digs out from a massive snow storm. Thousands of people are stranded on highways and interstates.
1976: Toledo Public Schools close for lack of money and don’t reopen until after New Year.
Dec. 3
1899: The Lozier Bicycle Company in Toledo announces they will begin to build automobile carriages, small power boats, and gasoline engines.
1923: A $10,000 reward is posted for thieves who stole $100,000 worth of diamonds from a jewelry salesman at the Toledo Union Station.
1901: The farmers around Curtice have a new elevator to take their future harvests. The new Gordon and Hienze elevator and feed mill is complete. It boasts a capacity of 10,000 bushels and is 28 feet tall, built at a cost of $5,000.
1930: Special honors are awarded Elmore potato farmer O.G. Stieffert, who has reported a yield of 410 bushels per acre, allowing him to gain membership in Ohio’s 400 bushel club.
1931: Two suspected rum-runners are shot and wounded by Toledo coast guardsmen on Maumee Bay. The shooting followed a three-mile chase as the Coast Guard boat pursued the 40-foot cruiser called “The Shark.” Several warning shots did not deter the smugglers, so live fire was opened up on them. Seriously wounded was Ed Zess of Port Clinton, 28, with a bullet wound to the neck. The coast guard says the cruiser was loaded with $10,000 worth of booze.
1936: For the first time in its history, the Toledo police department orders mandatory intelligence testing for all officers. Both current and new officers are given the “adaptability exams.”
1956: Downtown theaters are busy with Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” showing at the Paramount. “Giant,” with James Dean and Liz Taylor, are showing at The Rivoli, and the Pantheon has “Task Force” with Gary Cooper.
Dec. 4
1891: Side wheeler steamer, “Jeannie,” catches fire and burns to the water’s edge at the Craig Shipyards on the Maumee.
1902: A county board of inspector official reports deplorable conditions at Toledo police headquarters and the police jail, where young girls are being held and are often housed with women from the “tenderloin” district.
1944: Toledo baseball fans are saddened by the death of baseball great and Toledo native Roger Bresnahan, who died of a heart attack on this day at the age of 65. Bresnahan was considered one of the most versatile and strongest players in history. For a time in his career, he not only owned, but managed and played for his hometown Toledo Mud Hens.
1979: The historic St. Paul's Methodist Church at Madison and 13th in downtown Toledo is destroyed by fire.
Dec. 5
1855: The town of Gilead, in Wood County, whose good name was tarnished by a deadly cholera outbreak, petitions to rename itself Grand Rapids.
1884: Natural gas is discovered on the farm of Dr. Charles Osterlen in Wood County, ushering in a massive natural gas boom in the area. Within weeks many more new gas wells would be drilled in surrounding areas.
1921: A family of six dies when their car slides off the roadway and slips into the old Erie Canal, south of Waterville.
1958: WTOL-TV Channel 11, owned by Frazier Reams, begins on-air service, bringing a second TV station in Toledo.
1970: Cricket West Shopping Center on Central Avenue is struck by a major blaze.
Dec. 6
1895: A massive nitroglycerin blast in the oilfields southwest of Bowling Green shakes much of Northwest Ohio. Considerable damage occurs in Bowling Green, breaking windows and cracking walls.
1904: Several buildings in the downtown area of Perrysburg fall victim to flames after gasoline being used for cleaning explodes. A young cleaning woman was trapped on the second floor and had to be rescued by firemen.
1908: Toledo’s poor families — in need of food, clothing, and coal — are flocking to the Adams Street Mission in huge numbers. The Organization of Federated Charities reports 20 to 30 families a day are in dire need of help. There are predictions that many will die because of cold and hunger this year.
1911: The Toledo City Health Department reports seven typhoid fever deaths for the previous month, 33 diphtheria deaths, seven suicides, and 22 deaths from tuberculosis.
1921: Local stores in Toledo report heavy sales of ice skates this year.
