Feb. 1, 1900: The Great First Street Fire of 1900
Dayton experienced what could be the largest fire in the city’s history on Feb. 1, 1900.
The blaze started in the Leaf Tobacco Warehouses of J.P. Wolf & Son at the northwest corner of First and Foundry streets. Foundry ran north to south starting at First Street and cut through an area where the Dayton Dragons stadium and plaza now stand.
Four six-story buildings belonging to J.P. Wolf & Son were gutted from top to bottom. A three-story building also belonging to the Wolfs and a three-story building of the Dayton Paper Novelty Co. were also destroyed.
After that came the three-story Ezra Bimm & Sons wholesale and retail grocery, then a two-story building housing a saloon, restaurant and tobacco company.
The next evening, the fire commission presented a list of needs to the city council. It included five steam fire engines, a chemical engine, two new fire houses, salaries for 15 more firefighters, 10 horses and more hose.
December 1916: Harry Houdini hangs upside down from DDN building
Harry Houdini was featured on the playbill at B.F. Keith’s Theater in downtown Dayton, with a few “other good acts.”
Houdini dazzled the audience with a trick called the “East India mystery.” He placed needles in his mouth one by one and swallowed them until 20 to 30 were ingested. Then he chased the needles with a length of thread. With a sharp cough he tugged the thread from his lips and slowly pulled the needles out “properly threaded.”
Days later, he commanded an audience of 6,000 at the intersection of Fourth and Ludlow Streets for an escape act at the Dayton Daily News building. Two Dayton patrolmen strapped Houdini into a department-issued straight jacket, according to the account in the Dayton Daily News.
September 1944: Shirley Temple mobbed in Dayton
Shirley Temple visited Dayton to attend the Midwest premier of David O. Selznick’s new movie “Since You Went Away” at Loew’s Theater downtown.
The movie originated from a book written by Margaret Buell Wilder of Dayton to her husband while he was serving in World War II. Temple had a role in the movie, and it drew thousands to downtown Dayton.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Feb. 10, 1947: Missing Rembrandt worth $140,000 found in Dayton home
Three rare paintings, including a self-portrait by the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt valued at $140,000, were taken from their Dayton owners to become the permanent property of the United States.
The three paintings, belonging to Leo Ernst, were purchased from a German merchant seaman in 1934, after they had been stolen in Germany and smuggled into the United States.
The two other paintings were a Ter Borch valued at $2,000 and a painting by T.H. Tischbein valued at $1,200. The owners had taken the paintings to several experts and were told many times they were all fakes.
After many years, the truth that the paintings had been stolen finally came to light and the owners turned them over the the Dayton Art Institute for safekeeping while an investigation was ongoing.
The Rembrandt was eventually transported to the National Gallery of Art in Washington where it remained for 20 years. It is now on display at the Escher in Het Paleis museum in The Hague
April 5, 1955: Leo the Lion, the Steele High School statue, moved to new home
A bronze lion sculpture that was perched at Steele high school from 1908 to 1955 was moved to a new home at the Dayton Art Institute, where it remains today.
Leo, as he is known, was originally purchased with children’s pennies and guarded later in its life by an alumni association.
After the school closed, the land was to be cleared to make way for a parking lot.
Uncovered in the move was a time-capsule box of mementos including a copy of the Dayton Daily News and hundreds of school children’s names that contributed to the original building fund. Also included were an old Steele and Stivers football schedule, a silk flag, and a red and black ribbon — the school colors.
Nov. 13, 1964: Rolling Stones play one of first U.S. shows at Hara Arena
The Rolling Stones held their first concert in Dayton in 1964.
“Boys Bomb Again” read the subhead of a concert review written by Gee Mitchell, the Dayton Daily News amusements editor.
The band, which had formed only two years earlier in England, was touring the United States. Just three weeks before its Dayton performance, the band made its first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” performing two songs, “Around and Around,” a Chuck Berry blues classic, and “Time Is on My Side.”
The review of the Dayton show is brutal, and the accompanying headline “Rolling Stones Gather No Customers Here,” seems almost ridiculous today considering the influence on music and culture the band has had.
May 19, 1983: Tens of thousands see Space Shuttle visit Dayton
An estimated crowd of between 40,000 and 50,000 people descended upon Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to see the space shuttle Orbiter Enterprise visit.
So many had turned out for public viewing hours that base officials had to turn people away, with 12,000 to 15,000 vehicles entering the base.
The shuttle flew in atop a Boeing 747. The pilot calling it the “world’s biggest biplane.”
It stopped in Dayton so the 747 could refuel on its way to the Paris Air Show the following week. It also had stops planned for Newfoundland, Iceland, Great Britain and West Germany.
The shuttle was flown over Dayton at an altitude of about 2,000 feet at about 200 mph, circling the base and surrounding neighborhoods.