This week in Toledo history - June 22-28

June 22

1912: Heubner Brewery of Toledo runs a full-page ad in the News Bee explaining why beer offers so many “healthful life-giving qualities.”

1914: It’s revealed the Harry Atwood, an early Toledo aviation pioneer, and his bride are alive and safe on the ground in Bono. It was feared that Atwood and his new bride had died in a crash in Lake Erie as he was piloting an airboat from Sandusky to Toledo during a lightning storm. He says they were forced down by the storm to a small island and made their way to shore from there.

1927: Toledo Mud Hens manager Casey Stengel inserts himself into the lineup of a championship game and hits the game- winning home run.

1943: Race riots erupt on the streets of Detroit as 43 people are killed and more than 1,300 are arrested.

1949: Willow Beach at Point Place closes for good.

June 23

1890: The first public library opens at Madison and Ontario.

1908: It’s announced that Toledo’s popular airship aviator Roy Knabenshue will race his airship against a team of speedy cars in a race from Toledo to Cleveland - the longest contest to date between these new transportation marvels of the 20th century.

1933: The first night baseball game is played “under the lights” in Toledo at Swayne Field. The Mud Hens beat the Columbus Red Birds 2 -1 before 8,000 fans.

1952: The Toledo Mud Hens move to Charleston, W. Va. in a rancorous and controversial move that triggers a lawsuit from season ticket holders.

1969: The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catches fire, a moment of historic irony remembered by millions.

June 24

1906: The Toledo police begin a “clean-up” of the Canton Avenue area from Jackson to Cherry. Newspapers report that patrolmen are under orders to arrest every “strange negro and negress” and anyone else who is suspicious.

1910: County records show there are 659 saloons operating in Lucas County, bringing in tax revenue of over $350,000 a year.

1920: Industrial leader and glass maker Edward Ford dies. Ford started Ford Plate Glass Company in 1898 along riverfront and with it, the town of Rossford was created.

1936: Clayton “Bad Man” Clawson, Toledo’s notorious “nitro” bandit, hangs himself in a cell in the Ohio Penitentiary. Clawson used a bottle of nitro to threaten victims in numerous robberies. During his trial in Cleveland, he was gunned down by police in the courtroom when he pulled a bottle of nitro and threatened to blow up the court. He survived and went to prison, where he ended his life.

1958: The city’s forestry department announces that the six-year battle to save the city’s Dutch Elm trees from an invasive beetle has been lost. All 30,000 of these stately trees in the city will have to be removed.

1998: A tornado sweeps through the Port Clinton area as hundreds of homes are damaged.

June 25

1889: Former First Lady Lucy Hayes dies of a stroke at the family home in Fremont at Spiegel Grove.

1923: The once popular Hotel Hillcrest on Middle Bass Island is destroyed by flames.

1928: The Sam Davis Health Camp for undernourished children in Toledo opens for the summer. At least 100 children will be sent to the camp.

1934: Joe “Wop” English, convicted killer of bootlegger Jackie Kennedy, is given a 60-day reprieve from the electric chair.

1963: A Perrysburg Township Hall youth area called the "Bee Hive" collapses and is later torn down. The accident occurs hours before a planned event in the hall.

1969: An explosion occurs at Interlake Steel Co. plant on Front Street in East Toledo as three workers are killed.

June 26

1899: A fire at a major freight house in Toledo Middlegrounds burns 100 loaded rail cars.

1922: Contractors report that new home construction costs in Toledo are soaring, nearly $4,000 per home because of rising materials cost.

1952: Toledo is in the grip of a torrid heat wave as temps soar to near 100 degrees. At least two deaths are reported.

1955: Traffic jams are reported in downtown Toledo as 168,000 cars use the downtown streets every day.

1959: The St. Lawrence Seaway is dedicated by Queen Elizabeth and President Eisenhower.

June 27

1845: The Miami and Erie Canal opens a link from Toledo to Cincinnati, allowing canal boats to travel from Toledo to the Ohio River.

1859: A Chicago to Toledo “night express” train on the Michigan Southern and Lakeshore Railway derails over a rain collapsed embankment at South Bend. The cars slide into a river and 42 people drown. Some of the victims are from the Toledo area.

1904: The University of Toledo trustees decide that the school will have nine different colleges to offer students including a school of pharmacy. Professor Jerome Raymond of Chicago will become the university's first president.

1910: The Casino Theater and Pavilion at Point Place is wiped out by flames and may not be rebuilt. Damage was $50,000 and thought to be started by electric wire.

1913: Two are killed and 18 are injured when two trains collide near Woodville.

1944: The first infantile paralysis case reported in Toledo in what would become the polio epidemic.

1950: Marlin Stuart pitches a perfect game at Swayne Field for the Mud Hens, shutting out Indianapolis 1-0.

1958: Zalophus, or “Cyril” the fugitive sea lion from London, Ontario, is caught in Sandusky Bay and taken to the Toledo Zoo. Zoo officials say they will keep the nationally notorious marine mammal, touching off a near international incident with Canada. The Toledo Zoo eventually returns Cyril to the London Zoo.

June 28

1885: A violent riot by parishioners at St. Hedwig’s Catholic Church on Lagrange Street takes place over the suspension of a priest. Hundreds of local residents take to the neighborhood streets in violent clashes. A saloon owner and his wife are dragged from their house, beaten and shot. At least three people are shot and killed while over 20 are arrested.

1906: A Toledo probation officer, “Dilgart,” ends the practice of parents sending their children to corner saloons to pick up a supply of beer. Dilgart says the kids are being sent into “dives of iniquity” to get beer for a besotted father.

1924: A tornado hits Sandusky, killing eight and leveling 200 homes. It eventually become’s the state’s deadliest day for tornadoes with a statewide death toll of 88.

1956: An 11-day Shakespeare festival opens at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheater, drawing 2,000 audience members for its debut performance of “Much Ado About Nothing.”

1985: Eight men, including several horse trainers, are indicted for “fixing” harness races at Toledo’s Raceway Park.

1988: The baseball stadium at Lucas County Rec Center is renamed Ned Skeldon Stadium.