A Brief History
My home state of Ohio has a surprising history. This article presents a chronology of some of the key events!
Digging Deeper
On April 4, 1841, a stunned nation learned that for the first time in American history a serving president died while in office!
On January 7, 1894, Ohio born uber-inventor Thomas Edison made and demonstrated a kinetoscope, a sort of device using multiple photos or drawings to show the illusion of movement, in this case of a man sneezing.
On February 1, 1901, Clark Gable was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and would go on to movie greatness earning the nickname, “The King of Hollywood.”
On November 9, 1913, The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the North American lakes, destroyed 19 ships and killed more than 250 people.
On October 22, 1934, US FBI agents shot and killed infamous bank robber Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd in East Liverpool, Ohio.
On May 25, 1935, Jesse Owens of Ohio State won four events at the Big Ten Conference Track Meet, setting three world records and tying a fourth. What a performance!
On March 2, 1949, The Old Lamplighter became a memory and a song, but not an occupation, as automatic street lights start to shine, adding to the list of “Famous Inventions by Ohioans“!
On November 15, 1968, the Cleveland Transit System of Cleveland, Ohio linked downtown with the metro airport, becoming the first city in the western hemisphere to link its downtown and its main airport by rapid transit.
On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland, Ohio caught fire, sparking a story in Time Magazine and becoming the symbol for the ecology movement.
On March 21, 1952, disc jockey Alan Freed (inventor of the term “rock and roll”) and record store owner Leo Mintz staged the first rock concert in Cleveland, Ohio!
On December 27, 1964, the Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship, by itself not that earth shattering, but it marked the end of an era.
On May 4, 1970, the M-1 Garand rifles of the Ohio National Guard were used in combat; against college kids!
On June 4, 1974, baseball history (not the good kind!) was made in Cleveland. Recently we ran articles about great baseball performances; this is not one of them.
On April 8, 1975, slugger Frank Robinson became the first African-American major league baseball manager when he managed the Cleveland Indians opening day game.
On April 1, 1984, three suburban Cleveland young men started a business that would become “The Aquarium Superstore!”
On April 11, 1993, prisoners at the Southern Ohio Correctional (Lucasville, Ohio) began a terrifying and deadly riot!
On May 15, 2001, a 47-car freight train in Walbridge, Ohio took off away from the train station sans engineer who had dismounted to set a switch.
On October 16, 2008, Ohio handyman Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher was all the rage among supporters of Senator John McCain’s bid for the presidency.
On October 19, 2011, Muskingum County, Ohio became the hunting grounds of lions, tigers, bears, leopards, mountain lions and even monkeys when the owner of an exotic animal farm released his private zoo and then shot himself.
Last night on May 14, 2016 in Curitiba, Brazil, heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter Stipe Miocic stunned the Brazilian crowd by knocking out reigning UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum early in the first round.
On May 28, 2016, animal lovers were subjected to the horror of a zoo worker from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden shooting a beloved adult male gorilla named Harambe to death.
On June 19, 2016, basketball fans across the world watched as the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship for the first time in their history in a decisive Game 7 that pundits are calling the “Greatest Game 7 in NBA History.”
On November 2, 2016, the Chicago Cubs broke the “Curse of the Billy Goat,” a championship drought of 108 years, by beating the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 World Series.
On August 1, 2022, NFL and especially Cleveland Browns football fans finally got the long-awaited verdict in the case of quarterback Deshaun Watson, accused by more than 2 dozen women of various levels of sexual harassment while receiving massages.
On April 8, 2024, Dr. Zar, along with his miniature dachshund, watched the solar eclipse from within the zone of totality that included his home in Ashland, Ohio.
Question for students (and subscribers): What is your favorite event in Ohio’s history? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Coleman, Loren, Andy Henderson, et al. Weird Ohio: Your Travel Guide to Ohio’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Sterling, 2005.
Weeks, Philip. Buckeye Presidents: Ohioans in the White House. The Kent State University Press, 2003.
