This Week In Toledo History

November 5
1830 - Wood County executes convicted killer George Porter by hanging. He is first man to be executed in the county after being convicted of shooting to death Isaac Richardson for non-payment of his labor.
1920 - First edition of The Sun in East Toledo is published.
1946 - Convicted postal robber and notorious gangster Joe Urbaytis is gunned down and killed at his Bon-Aire Supper Club, an illegal speakeasy, on Woodville Road.
1952-The first of 600 Ohio State prison inmates arrive at Camp Perry's POW camp to be housed temporarily after the State Penitentiary in Columbus was gutted by a major riot and fire.
1956 - World-renowned jazz pianist and Toledo native Art Tatum dies at age of 46 in Los Angeles.
1960 - Edward Hagedorn elected as first mayor of Oregon.

November 6
1908 - Toledo School Board proposes that Toledo schools begin serving hot breakfasts to growing number of students who come to school hungry.
1923 - Toledo is in grip of fear from a “mad bomber” who has detonated six bombs in the city since September.
1941 - A stone marker is dedicated on Miami Street to note the presence of an ancient Indian fort. Early pioneers had found the remnants of the long abandoned earthworks at a location near the present day grain elevators and Fassett Street.
1945 - J.B. Simmons, first African-American elected to Toledo City Council.

November 7
1866 - Toledo City council approves $216 payment for purchase of first Toledo Police uniform caps and belts.
1907 - Toledo Police report they have captured a "wild man" who had been living along the banks of Ten Mile Creek near the Pope Motor plant and terrorizing nearby residents. Frank Gorware, unshaven and wild looking, eats mostly raw meat.
1933 - National prohibition repealed, many area taverns begin selling low power beer.
1956 - The Great Eastern Shopping center opens in Northwood on Woodville Road.
1958 - President Eisenhower arrives in Toledo to go duck hunting along the Lake Erie shoreline at the private Cedar Point Club. Ike bags his limit of Mallards within 3 hours.
2001 - Jack Ford is elected as first African-American Mayor of Toledo, defeating Lucas County Treasurer Ray Kest.

November 8
1905 - Lawyer and journalist Brand Whitlock is elected Mayor of Toledo, defeating incumbent Mayor Finch by 4,000 votes. Whitlock, running as an independent would be elected three times.
1908 - It is reported that the first female ever to officiate a mens' football game happened in Toledo. Miss Sophie Henry referees first quarter of the game, but players feel constricted in the use of colorful language in front a woman and vote to replace her with a young man.
1918 - The Toledo area is deeply affected by Spanish flu epidemic. Five thousand people ill, 242 deaths reported.
1953 - St. Charles Hospital on Navarre Avenue is dedicated.

November 9
1899 - “Train wreckers” cause derailment of Detroit-bound train near Alexis Road. Three people are killed.
1913 - The so called "Great Lakes Hurricane” whips across the region. Lakes are in chaos as 19 ships are lost in the storms and 250 men perish in the cyclonic winds. Worst night of terror in Great Lakes history.
1931 - Toledo Police confiscate what they say was $6,000 worth of “loco weed” also known as marijuana from a cafe on Washington Street. Police say the weed has a “dreamy effect” on the smoker.
1956 - Major blaze destroys several buildings in downtown Bowling Green, resulting in a half-million dollars in damage.
1961 - Toledo's Ella P. Stewart School is dedicated on Avondale Avenue, honoring one of the first African American female pharmacists in the nation and a prominent civil rights leader.

November 10
1925 -Temple Theater in Toledo advertises that a Hollywood film director is shooting a movie on the Temple Stage every day at 3pm called Toledo's Hero with a local cast.
1925 - The first victim of the so-called "Toledo Slugger" is attacked, but Mrs. Frank Hall of Putnam Street manages to survive.
1975 -The giant ore freighter, “Edmund Fitzgerald” breaks up and sinks in a vicious storm on Lake Superior. Twenty-nine sailors are lost, many from the Toledo area, including Captain Ernest McSorley.

2001 - Killer storms strike Northwest Ohio. Five tornadoes touch down, doing damage to numerous cities and killing five people from Van Wert to Republic, Ohio.

November 11
1918 - Germany surrenders. World War I is over. Toledoans jam the streets by the thousands for celebrations, flag raisings, and dances.
1932 - Popular singer, Kate Smith makes a train stop on Toledo as she travels cross country. She signs autographs for 100 people at the train station.
1934 - Gangster Thomas, "Yonnie" Licavoli begins serving his prison term at the Ohio State Penitentiary for murder and other crimes in the Toledo area.
1974 - First Toledo Police K-9 unit graduates from training.
1991- Ohio's “Merci" train car that was gift from France is re-dedicated at Camp Perry. It is one of 50 French boxcars filled with gifts for America's generosity to the French people.