Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Aug. 23
1879: Jacob Nohl, a Civil War veteran and police sergeant in Toledo, confronts Ross Saulsbury, an old friend in a Toledo saloon, accusing him of writing to a newspaper accusing Nohl of having an unsavory character. The argument escalates, Nohl becomes outraged, and he shoots Saulsbury twice. Nohl then turns the gun on himself. Both die within hours. Toledoans are shocked and stunned by the turn of events.
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, Mich.
1932: The Beebe House Hotel at Put-in-Bay is destroyed by a massive blaze.
1957: Big changes for phone users in Toledo are happening as Ohio Bell begins the changeover from old alpha-numeric exchanges to numerical-only prefixes for telephone numbers, which will eventually lead to direct long distance calling.
Aug. 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 then 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 N.Y.C. tracks. This was the last time a passenger train would be run on the tracks known as the “old belt.”
1986: A fuzzy image of Jesus said to be visible on the side of a soybean silo in Fostoria as thousands of people line up to see the vision. The image becomes nationally famous as “Soybean Jesus.”
Aug. 25
1875: “The Mayflower” schooner sinks near Marblehead in Lake Erie.
1898: Burt’s Theater opens at Jefferson and Ontario streets. Named for owner, Frank Burt, it features Vaudeville shows, has 1,500 seats and features a "fat man's row" for men of ample girth. The theater later became the “Peppermint Lounge” in the 1950s and 60s before becoming the Country Palace in the 1970s. In its final days, it became Caesars Show Bar. The building currently consists of loft apartments.
1915: Toledo patrolman Adolf Reimer dies at Robinwood Hospital after being shot three weeks earlier while answering a disturbance call. Along with another officer, he was climbing a set of stairs in a building when a man opened the door and fired. He contracted blood poisoning from the wound and underwent several surgeries before he passed away.
1937: BGSU championship boxer Edwin Willet, 18, is charged with murder after he killed another young man in a fist fight near Angola, Ind. Police say they were fighting over a girl. The victim suffered a broken jaw and died from his injury.
1946: A deadly mistake nearly happens when a 38-foot cabin cruiser from Toledo named “The Albatross” is mistakenly attacked by three U.S. Navy warplanes doing target practice near West Sister Island. Seven fishermen are injured.
1960: A mystery cannon ball of unknown origin is given to the Toledo Zoo. It was found buried in the banks of the Maumee River near Waterville.
Aug. 26
1909: The nationally promoted, wacky, six-day King Wamba Carnival gets 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.
1929: “Daddy” Charles Soen, an 84-year-old champion pigeon racer in Toledo, loses his entire prize flock of racing birds to thieves. The birds are national champions, including “Theodore the IV,” which won a 1,000-mile race from Texas.
1935: Heart disease takes the life of John North Willys, a pioneer automaker in Toledo and a former Ambassador to Poland, at his home in New York. 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 is 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, Ind. and employ 500 workers.
1921: The “Human Fly” Dolly O’Brine scales side of Masonic Building in Bowling Green, drawing excited crowds of onlookers.
1924: Ralph Roberts, a nine-year old boy from 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. He says he did it because it was an “experiment.”
1967: A great tragedy occurs on Lake Erie when 16 skydivers drown after their jump plane drops them over the lake near Huron, Ohio.
Aug. 28
1904: The first paying passengers are transported on the new Toledo-Port Clinton-Lakeside railway. The first train is a steam locomotive instead of electric.
1906: After being arrested on a lunacy charge, Anna Fuzee is reported to be a “living statue,” where she just stares into space. 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 that they need more police patrols.
1919: A railroad detective who surprised a pair of burglars aboard a train boxcar at Graytown is shot by one of the bandits. Detective J.J. Boss died later in a Toledo hospital.
1929: A stubborn blaze destroys the six-story plant of the Toledo Grain and Milling Company at Harrison and Mills streets. Damage is set at $800,000.
1930: Construction begins on the new $450,000 University of Toledo Fieldhouse, which will feature an indoor arena for football and track.
1932: More than 12,000 people jam Willow Beach Park at Point Place to help celebrate the “Fair and Square Clubs,” which is one of the largest events ever held at the park.
1940: Bonnie Turner, who would become best known for co-creating the shows “3rd Rock From the Sun” and “That ‘70s Show” along with her husband, is born in Toledo.
1958: Future Olympic Gold Medal figure skater Scott Hamilton is born in Toledo.
1976: A tragic fire erupts in the horse barns at Toledo's Raceway Park, killing 40 horses.
1977: The first power is generated at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station on the shores of Lake Erie and fed into the electric grid for consumer use.
1993: The USS Toledo submarine is launched at Norfolk, Va. Numerous officials and delegates from the city attend the event.
Aug. 29
1870: Toledo’s population continues increasing and is now listed at 31,600.
1901: East Toledo residents are reporting strange lights in the night skies, which remains a mystery. Some witnesses liken the lights to a lantern in the sky that vanishes when they try to get near it.
1914: Elizabeth Schauss, Toledo’s first female food inspector, institutes new rules for food handlers at restaurants in the city, including hair nets for female workers.
1924: Seven members of the Cyrus Updegraff Family in Wood County are killed when their car is hit by a train in Perrysburg.
1929: Tank’s Meat Market in Elmore is selling hamburger for 12 cents a pound and beef roast for 16 cents a pound.
1947: Eleven people are injured in a train crash at Union Station in Toledo.
