This Week In Toledo History
April 28- May 4
April 28
1813 -The attack on American forces at Fort Meigs in the War of 1812 begins as British soldiers and their Native American allies lay siege on the fort on the Maumee River banks for five days of bombardment.
1911- State Pharmacy Board claims that Toledo is the “cocaine capital of Ohio.” Rampant abuse of the drug is reported and numerous “coke” parties being held by teens.
1934 - More than 100 destitute men living in the shanty towns of “Hooverville and Paradise Lane” on the East Toledo riverfront are being given a new place to live in the hulks of old barges and freighters in the ship graveyard on Niles Street.
1939 - Professional golfer Byron Nelson signs to become head pro at Inverness Country Club. During his time in Toledo, Nelson would win a number of major tournaments.
April 29
1913 - A somber reunion is held in Toledo for the survivors of the Sultana tragedy. The riverboat exploded and sank on the Mississippi River after the Civil War. More than 1,100 Union soldiers, just freed from Confederate prison camps, died in the disaster. Hundreds of the victims were from Ohio.
1949 - Toledo judges and city officials are given a demonstration of a radar device for catching speeders. Toledo will be among the first cities in the nation to use radar guns.
1962 - The “King of the Twist” Chubby Checker appears in Toledo at the Sports Arena.
April 30
1879 - Actress Lillie Ellis at the Adelphi Theater is shot through the neck by a jealous husband at Hooper House hotel. He then turns gun on himself. She may survive. He did not.
1908 - The Horseshoer’s Union threatening to strike in Toledo over increasing use of machine-made vs. man-made horseshoes.
1914 - An army of women armed with brooms and shovels take to the streets of East Toledo as part of a larger campaign to clean the city.
1930 - Esther Antin, a Toledo attorney, is getting scores of marriage proposals after making national news by acting as the prosecutor in the trial of a Toledo woman accused of shooting and killing a man for insulting her. She has been getting proposals from men around the nation.
May 1
1884 - Moses Fleetwood Walker plays first major league game with Toledo Blue Stockings in a contest against Louisville, thus becoming the first African American to play in a major league baseball game.
1918 -Toledo's notorious vice area known as the "Tenderloin", closes down for good by order of the War Department. More than 8000 workers of the saloons and houses of ill repute are sent packing.
1940 - Two cars plunge out of a third story garage at Brown Motor Sales on Main Street in East Toledo. No injuries, but plenty of damage.
1959 - The first ocean-going ship, the “Prinz Willem George Frederik,” docks in Toledo after using the new St. Lawrence Seaway.
1966 - Rising lake levels flood much of Jerusalem Township lake shore area. Over 500 people get typhoid inoculations as a precaution.
1967 – Lucas County Sheriff’s Deputy Herbert Wexler killed in a two-car accident on Route 2 in Jerusalem Township.
May 2
1899 - Henry Altman was fishing near Bean Creek in Williams County and claims to have seen a funnel shaped craft with a fan type of appliance on top of it. It was flying overhead very fast.
1931 - Tom McAuliffe, the famous armless golfer is appearing at the Rivoli Theater in Toledo in live performances and is to play an exhibition at Sunningdale Golf Club.
1962 - Dutch Elm disease reported to be "out of control" in Toledo. More than 6200 elms have been cut down so far, and thousands more threatened.
1978 - The rancorous Toledo school teachers strike comes to an end after Toledo Board of Education threatens to fire the striking teachers if they don’t return to classes.
1983 - Tornado hits North Baltimore area in Wood County. One person killed.
May 3
1903 - Tragedy strikes Polish excursionists from Toledo when many members are run over by a locomotive in Detroit. They had been waiting on the tracks for the return train to Toledo. Nine people are killed.
1919 -Three rum runners drown while crossing Lake Erie during a heavy thunderstorm. Their launch washed up on Toledo Beach with 60 cases of whiskey aboard, but no sign of the three men.
1954 - Grant Murray Field at Waite High School is dedicated.
1966 - WDHO-TV Channel 24, owned by Daniel.H. Overmyer, begins broadcasting in Toledo as city’s third commercial TV station. It would later become WNWO-TV.
May 4
1910 - Toledo is now listed as fourth largest rail center in the U.S. behind Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago.
1917 - Future Toledo Mayor Addison Thacher is shot and wounded in an attempt to stop a suspect holding Police Chief Herbert and Detective Delahanty at gunpoint. Thacher was shot through the ear.
1934 - Machine gun toting bandits, including outlaw John Dillinger, shoot four people in daylight bank robbery in Fostoria.
1944 - As part of the war conservation effort, Toledo hotels and restaurants continue observing two meatless days per week.
1970 - Toledoans are shocked by the shooting deaths of four students and protesters at Kent State University by Ohio National Guardsmen.