This Week In Toledo History Week of 8/23/2021

Aug. 22
1904 - Judge Sherman W. Lott of Toledo sets record for fastest marriage ceremony in his court by taking four seconds to tie the knot for Frederick Hooper and Jesse Pearl Kall of Toledo.
1910 - Hundreds of volunteer, from 10-100 years old, wade into the waters of Toledo Beach to pull weeds that are ruining the bathing and wading experience for visitors to the popular beach.
1927 - WTAL radio (later to become WSPD) moves from Waldorf Hotel into new studios at 217 Superior Street in Toledo.
1947 - Findlay residents complain about large and rare invasion of horseflies that have been harassing just about everyone in recent weeks. One resident says he killed more than 160 in one day at his home.
1955 - Thousands of spectators turn out for the annual Water Circus and show at Scott Park pool featuring synchronized swimmers and competition diving as part of the Toledo Recreation festival.

Aug. 23
1911-A stray dog named "Bum" who has been hanging around the Central police station helps patrolman capture three would-be burglars as he corners them at Hoffman Confectionary at Adams and Superior Street. "Bum" may have become Toledo's first 'police dog".
1917 -The Leavitt Diving Armour Company of Toledo sets a deep-sea diving record of 170 feet as they recover a large cache of treasure copper from the sunken freighter “Pewabic” on Lake Huron near Alpena, Michigan.
1926 - The Toledo Dining Car Company announces plans to put a fleet of railroad type dining cars on the downtown streets to serve lunches and meals.
1932 - Beebe House Hotel at Put-in-Bay is destroyed by massive blaze.
1957 - Big changes for phone users in Toledo as Ohio Bell begins changeover from old alpha-numeric exchanges to numerical-only prefixes that will eventually lead to direct long distance calling.

Aug. 24
1907 -The “Great Van Amburg” circus is playing in Bowling Green.
1908 - A Toledo courtroom is filled with laughter when 24 people are arrested for running a “disorderly house” at 29 South Erie Street. The accused then performed a “minstrel show” to the delight of the court audience.
1916 - Mayor Milroy orders police and firemen in the city back to their jobs after they were laid off because the city ran out of money to pay them. The reduction in police forces creates a mini crime wave of burglaries and robberies.
1951 - A very special train takes 750 people from the Elmore area on a ride to Toledo using the old NYC tracks that ran through Elmore and Genoa. The excursion was organized to celebrate Elmore’s Centennial celebration.
1959 - In Perrysburg, a passenger train derailment near the East Boundary crossing injures 15 passengers and topples several cars.
1986 - A fuzzy image of Jesus said to be visible on side of soybean silo at Fostoria, thousands of people line up to see the vision.

Aug. 25
1875 -The schooner, “the Mayflower,” sinks near Marblehead in Lake Erie.
1898 - The Burt Theater, (still standing), at Jefferson and Ontario opens for live vaudeville performances. The ornate and Venetian type building was operated by the infamous Frank Burt who owned hundreds of theaters across America and made Toledo his home.
1907 - Moreton Storage and Moving Company warehouse in Toledo is destroyed by fire.
1915 - Toledo patrolman Adolf Reimer dies after being shot three weeks earlier when answering a disturbance call.
1946 - A 38-foot cabin cruiser from Toledo named “the Albatross,” is mistakenly attacked by three U.S. Navy warplanes (Corsairs) doing target practice near West Sister Island. Seven fishermen injured and burned.
1960 - A mystery cannon ball of unknown origin is given to the Toledo Zoo Museum. It was found buried in a Maumee River bank near Waterville and theorized it may have been some of the supplies that were shipped to the British at Ft. Miamis, or to Commodore Perry's fleet before the Battle of Lake Erie.

Aug. 26
1909 - Nationally promoted wacky six-day King Wamba Carnival underway in Toledo. It is billed as the “Mardi Gras of the North.”
1916 - "Lottie Mayer and her Six Diving Nymphs" are performing at 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 City. His wife and family are at his bedside when he passes.
1949 - Thousands of onlookers in downtown Toledo watch as fire destroys a building in 600 block of Adams Street.

1983 - The Bettsville fire station in Sandusky County destroyed by fire.

Aug. 27
1909 - John North Willys announces he will bring another factory to Toledo. The Warner Gear factory will be moved to Toledo from Muncie, Indiana and employ 500 workers.
1921 - The “Human Fly,” Mrs. Dolly O’Brine, scales side of Masonic Building in Bowling Green, drawing excited crowds of onlookers.
1924 - A 9-year-old boy, Ralph Roberts of Toledo is charged with murder after he put a block of wood on a train track at Millfield Ohio, causing a derailment in which two engineers were killed.
1949 -The Toledo harbor range lights, known as “the crib,” are removed from Maumee Bay.
1967 - A great tragedy on Lake Erie when 16 skydivers drown when their jump plane drops them over the lake near Huron, Ohio.

Aug. 28
1906 - A Toledo woman is reported to be a “living statue.” Anna Fuzee arrested on a “lunacy charge” after she refuses to move and just stares off into space. She is sent to jail's insane ward. 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 policemen patrolling the area.
1929 - A massive blaze destroys the six-story plant of the Toledo Grain and Milling Company at Harrison and Mills Street. Damage is set at $800,000.
1930 - Construction begins on the new $450,000 University of Toledo field house, which will feature an indoor arena for football and track.
1958 - Future Olympic Gold Medalist figure skater Scott Hamilton born in Toledo.
1993 - The USS Toledo submarine is launched at Norfolk, Virginia.