Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
January 19
1886 - While being transported by train from Arkansas to New York, two large “killer” wolves escape during a stop in Toledo. They gnaw through their wooden crates at the Toledo Express office, run wild for a half hour, eat anything they could including a jug of whiskey which makes them sleepy and docile, enabling their recapture.
1905 -The “Pope Toledo” automobile makes record 503-mile run in 24 hours, 3 minutes.
1926 - The body of 42-year-old Mary Handley is found and believed to be the 7th victim of the notorious "Toledo Clubber" who has been victimizing women for months in Toledo.
1955 - Hearings resume in Washington, D.C. on allegations that Toledo industrialist, attorney and broadcast station owner, Edward Lamb had ties to the Communist Party.
January 20
1875 - Scores of men gather at the Boody House Hotel to witness the first telephone call made in Toledo.
1886 - Great excitement in Northwest Ohio as the "Karg" natural gas well is struck in downtown Findlay. The gas ignites and its tower of flame can be seen as far away as Toledo.
1920 - Toledo Health Commission reports 1,000 cases of the flu in the city and three deaths.
1927 - Toledo Police show off their new bullet proof armor by having policemen stand behind it while bullets are shot at them in a live demonstration. The bullets never penetrated the hard metal.
1944 - Major fire at Harry's Auto store in downtown Toledo on Summit. The difficult blaze in the five-story building causes over $250,000 in damage.
January 21
1904 - A Toledo High School teen is allowed to re-enter the school after his handgun he took to school discharged during a class. He was given a “stern lecture” by police.
1915 - TPD detective Kaiser Bartecki is shot and killed by suspected stalker, Peter Skribner who had earlier gunned down his former girlfriend. It was during the pursuit of Skribner that Detective Bartecki was shot and killed in North Toledo.
1921 - Women workers at the Spitzer Building form a “hatpin brigade” to defend themselves against “Jack the Hugger”, an elderly man who hangs out in the lobby and tries to grab them.
1970 - The notorious brothel at the "Round the Clock Grille” on Woodville Road near Millbury is raided by federal agents after almost 20 years of operations. The raid resulted in numerous charges against the owners and law enforcement officials in Ottawa County who had accepted bribes
1972 - Nolte’s Sohio gas station in Genoa on Woodville Road erupts into inferno of flame in eight- vehicle accident. Two people seriously injured.
1984 - Record setting low temperatures reported in Toledo at -20.
January 22
1900 -The Kuebeler Hotel in Oak Harbor has its grand opening with hordes of people and a band for the ceremony. The hotel features 35 rooms and both electric and gas chandeliers.
1904 - The Portage River at Oak Harbor goes on a rampage. The ice jams break in the river triggering record flooding. Many homes and businesses flooded out.
1921 - Fifteen thousand loaves of bread and 5,000 quarts of milk are given by an anonymous donor to help Toledo's needy families.
1927 - Seven people are killed and eight others injured in the gas explosion of a two-story retail and apartment building in Point Place.
1929 - Nineteen people are killed in the collision of a Lakeshore Electric train (LSE) and a bus at Bellevue. Oddly, an injured passenger from Detroit who thought he was dying, confessed to rescuers that he had recently robbed a bank. (He didn't die)
January 23
1904 - A massive back up of flood waters threatening downtown Toledo begins to break up and city is spared from flooding and bridge wash outs.
1906 - A major fire destroys several businesses in downtown Genoa, including O.G. Werners Grocery, the meat market owned and operated by Cashen and Gallup and Heilman’s jewelry store. The village says the block is not likely to be rebuilt.
1959 - Fire breaks out in the BGSU campus dining hall. Heavy damage reported.
January 24
1879 - A large wooden grain elevator on the Middle Grounds by the Maumee River burns to the ground. Large quantities of corn and flax seed are destroyed.
1899 - Toledo inventor Allen DeVilbiss patents an automatic scale.
1959 - Violinist Isaac Stern plays with Toledo Symphony at the Peristyle.
1963 - Deep freeze hits Toledo area. Temps recorded at -19 degrees.
1965 Major ice storm closes schools and businesses, snarls traffic and causes power and phone outages throughout the Toledo area.
January 25
1910 -Toledo Public Schools continue their tradition of offering sleigh rides to school children.
1933 - Toledo Blade reports that a new chapter of the KKK is formed in Toledo and is called the General Custer Klan.
1915 - A Fremont family is said to have the smallest child born in the U.S. At two pounds, four ounces, George and Daisy Kiser’s boy eclipses the former record of 2 pounds 8 ounces.
1958 - The Miracle Mile Shopping Center in West Toledo is ravaged by flames, causing $600,000 in damage and destroying the W.T. Grant Store and four others.
