Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
June 29
1909: The Toledo News Bee runs a story claiming that new telescopes can “plainly” see snow-capped mountains and canals on Mars.
1921: Registration is advertised for the University of Toledo summer session. Fees are $2 for residents and $6 for non-residents.
1925: Nearly 100 undernourished children from Toledo are taken to the county health department’s children’s camp at Presque Isle for six weeks. There they will be fed and given exercise routines and activities to restore their health.
1931: Former Lucas County Sheriff Charles Emmert, his brother Edward and another man are indicted by a grand jury for fraud concerning jail food purchases.
1944: New 120-mm anti-aircraft guns are shown to members of the press at the Erie Proving Grounds near Port Clinton.
1979: Toledo is stunned with news that Toledo Owens-Illinois executive William Niehous escaped his captors in the jungles of Venezuela after being held hostage for more than three years. He makes it to safety, and O-I sends a jet down to South America to have him flown back home to Toledo.
June 30
1905: Toledo’s famous stunt flyer, Roy Knabenshue, flies his airship balloon to the top of the Spitzer building in downtown Toledo to win a bet. He lands safely and then flies back again to the fairgrounds on Dorr Street.
1918: More than 35,000 people assemble in Ottawa Park for a community wide religious service to pray for “honorable” peace in World War I.
1931: The “Cinderella Girl” Peaches Browning is a hit at Forest Park Amusements on Woodville Road near Genoa. She is performing for four nights having just completed performances in Atlantic City.
1929: Notorious Toledo gambler and bootlegger Albert Parlow is killed in a gun battle at the Riverview Inn in Point Place.
1931: Toledo police detective Frank Delora is suspended after he started a shooting rampage inside Greenie Taxi's office on Jackson Street. No one was hit, but bullets were flying. The police surgeon says Delora is emotionally affected by hot weather.
1948: The Cherry Street electric trolley ceases operations.
1977: Tornadoes sweep across Sandusky and Paulding County. Eighteen people are injured and more than $12 million in damage sustained by the powerful winds that ripped apart homes and buildings, including several buildings at Cedar Point.
July 1
1909: Toledo Mayor Brand Whitlock warns young lovers that it’s okay to spoon in city parks, but Toledo police officers will be watching for any signs that the “affections” shown are improper.
1914: The state teachers’ convention is held at Cedar Point, where the state school superintendent reveals to the crowd that most teachers can’t attend because they are too poor.
1967: The University of Toledo is given the status of a state university by the Ohio General Assembly.
1977: The last Ford Tri-motor aircraft, also known as the “Tin Goose,” crashes at South Bass Island. It was during take-off on a regularly scheduled flight for Erie Islands Airlines. Only the pilot suffered minor injuries, but the crash essentially ended the services of the historic Ford Tri-motor on the island.
1979: A mass strike by Toledo city workers begins after failed talks for a new contract. All unions, including police and fire, go on strike - shutting down the city and creating chaos. Anarchy ruled the streets as a TARTA bus driver was murdered. The strife eventually ended days later with a new labor agreement.
2000: The Lonz Winery terrace collapses on Middle Bass Island. Eighty people injured, one person is killed.
July 2
1884: A massive fire destroys most of Pemberville’s business district.
1909: The last Toledo Mud Hens baseball game is played at Armory Park on Spielbusch Avenue in downtown Toledo.
1905: J. Quakenbush of East Woodruff Avenue is arrested after becoming upset with his wife's independence. He goes home and while the good Mrs. Quackenbush is absent, the mister, fueled by liquid courage, throws all of the dishes out onto the front lawn, followed by all of her clothes. A judge fines him $5 with a warning not to repeat this action in the future.
1931: The U.S. Open golf tournament begins at Inverness in Toledo. Bill Burke wins the tournament.
July 3
1817: A sea serpent is reported by early settlers near Middle Bass Island.
1854: The first Perrysburg cholera epidemic death reported.
1909: Swayne Field ballpark opens in West Toledo as a record 18 innings are played between Columbus and Toledo.
1921: Thousands of men swarm downtown Toledo near the News Bee building on Jackson Street to hear the results of the Dempsey-Carpenter heavyweight championship fight being held in New Jersey.
1945: The much talked about “Toledo Tomorrow” exhibit opens at Toledo Zoo. It was a very large display model sponsored by the Toledo Blade publisher Paul Block, depicting a vision of Toledo by the turn of the 21st century. The model was designed by famed architect Norman Bel Geddes of Adrian, Mich. and was featured in many national publications, drawing interest worldwide.
1948: TPD Officer Harold Stevens dies when his patrol car collides with an ambulance at Monroe and 17th streets.
July 4
1865: The Fremont Journal reports that three women are killed during the 4th of July while on a small excursion boat on the Portage River. All three women were caught up in the crank shaft of the motor. One of them initially got her dress caught, and she grabbed the other two women – leading to the deaths of all three.
1865: In Elmore, it’s reported that a German man from that town was found dead on the railroad tracks having been run over by a train, although it’s believed he had been robbed of $50, shot and then had his body left on the tracks.
1887: Much of Bowling Green’s business district is lost to flames, and two acres of buildings are destroyed.
1888: The first baseball game is played at Speranga Field at Cherry and Franklin.
1894: Commemoration of the new and current Wood County Courthouse is held in Bowling Green. A.B. Murphy delivered the oratory and declared that "Wood County is the garden of Ohio."
1896: A large fire destroys much of Maumee’s downtown area.
1907: Street car service opens to the Toledo Beach amusement park. Some 14,000 people take the scenic ride on that day to ride the chutes at the beach.
1919: The single greatest sports event is held in Toledo as boxing's heavyweight championship title was decided in a contest between Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard. The fight was held at a newly built wooden arena at Bay View Park drawing thousands of fans who paid between $10 and $60 a ticket to witness the spectacle in which challenger Jack Dempsey won the heavyweight crown.
1929: Vandals cut a breach into the Miami and Erie Canal at Waterville and water from the canal flows freely into the Maumee River, effectively draining the nearly century-old water route. The act spoils a planned event to close the canal.
July 5
1854: A cholera epidemic spreads through Toledo and Northwest Ohio as hundreds die in the ensuing weeks.
1914: Park Board officials want a plain-clothes detective to keep watch on animal exhibits at the zoo to arrest the “jokers” who are spitting tobacco juice in the eyes of monkeys and feeding stones to animals.
1920: More than 1,500 people gather for the re-dedication of the statue of General James Blair Steedman in Riverside Park.
1923: A woman on Hamilton Street is arrested for destroying an American flag.
1926: Toledo Zoo animal keeper Louis Scherer is recovering from flesh wounds to the buttocks after being bitten by a black bear while cleaning the cage.
1935: The Toledo Industrial Peace Board meets for first time to help settle labor disputes.
1949: Three young men plead guilty to throwing firecrackers at animals in cages at the Toledo Zoo.
1952: Tom Henricks, a future space shuttle astronaut, is born in Williams County. His family moved later to Woodville, where he grew up.
1969: Major rain and a windstorm rakes the Toledo area in one of the worst storms in area history. Thousands of trees are down, buildings are damaged, many places are without power and vast flooding is reported.
