This Week In Toledo History

August 20
1794 - Battle of Fallen Timbers is fought near the banks of Maumee River as General Anthony Wayne defeats Indian tribes for control of Northwest Territory.
1879 - Reunion of the Civil War’s storming of Selma by the 3rd Ohio Volunteer Cavalry held in Toledo.
1899 - Good Shepherd Church in Toledo burns to the ground.
1912 - Annual week-long Elks Carnival underway at Armory Park, but one popular show called a "Trip to the Moon" featuring scantily clad women is being shut down.
1924 - Large area of East Toledo is under quarantine after five smallpox deaths are reported.
1965 - The first Ottawa County Fair opens between Oak Harbor and Port Clinton.

August 21
1838- Fever and ague epidemic in Northwest Ohio continues. Many in Toledo area sick and dying.
1909 - King Wamba of Spain makes first visit to Toledo for the first annual gala called the Wamba Carnival of Toledo.
1915 - Tipped off by a phone operator, Perrysburg police ambush a carload of suspected car thieves, wounding five and capturing two others.
1937 - Inmates at Lucas County Jail go on hunger strike, protesting the food that is served.

August 22
1904 - Judge Sherman W. Lott of Toledo sets record for fastest wedding ceremony in his court by taking just four seconds to tie the knot for Frederick Hooper and Jesse Pearl Kall of Toledo.
1927 - WTAL radio (later to become WSPD) moves from Waldorf Hotel into new studios at 217 Superior St. 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 flock to the annual Water Circus and show at Scott Park pool featuring synchronized swimmers and competition diving as part of the Toledo Recreation festival.

August 23
1879 - Toledo Police Sgt. Jacob Nohl confronts Ross Saulsbury who accuses Nohl, in a letter to the newspaper, of Nohl's unsavory character. Nohl is outraged. He finds Saulsbury, shoots him twice, then turns the gun on himself. Both die within hours. Toledoans are stunned by the tragedy
1917 - The Leavitt Diving Armour Company of Toledo announces it has set 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.
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 for telephone numbers that will eventually lead to direct long distance calling.

August 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 NYC tracks. This was the last time a passenger train would be run on the tracks.
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. The image becomes nationally famous as “Soybean Jesus”.

August 25
1875 - The schooner, “the Mayflower,” sinks near Marblehead in Lake Erie.
1898 - The Burt Theater opens at Jefferson and Ontario Streets. Named for owner, Frank Burt, it features Vaudeville shows, has 1500 seats and has a "fat man's row" for men of ample girth.
1915 – Toledo patrolman Adolf Reimer dies after being shot three weeks earlier when answering a disturbance call.
1946 - Almost a deadly mistake when 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.
1960 - A mystery cannon ball of unknown origin given to the Toledo Zoo. It was found buried in Maumee River bank near Waterville.

August 26
1919 - Mayor Schreiber and Toledo firemen hold a sale on sacks of flour to help fight the high cost of food products. Thousands of quarter barrel sacks are sold at fire stations for $2 each. This is the fourth such sale in recent weeks.
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.
1935 - Heart disease takes the life of pioneer Toledo automaker and former Ambassador to Poland, John North Willys, at his home in New York.
1949 - Thousands of onlookers in downtown Toledo watch as fire destroys a building in 600 block of Adams Street.
1983 - Bettsville fire station in Sandusky County destroyed by fire.