1904: Beautifully dedicated by a labor of charity
On Thursday, March 1, the city began the Arcade Charity Festival, which celebrated the opening of the Dayton Arcade. It lasted for three days and introduced the city to the facility that had taken two years to construct.
“Every visitor marveled at the magnitude of the affair and the beauty of the place so ideal for just such a festival,” the Dayton Daily News wrote.
1940: East Dayton café owner is shot to death
Henry Harshman, the 74-year-old and “one of Dayton’s oldest café men,” was shot in the heart at his café near the corner of East Third Street and Horton Street at 3:57 a.m. on Friday, March 1.
Police believed Harshman surprised a burglar at the Old Reliable. He had a gun because of several recent attempts to open the café's safe recently, but he did not return fire with his weapon.
1968: Basketball fans, players fight in UD fieldhouse gym
Multiple stories on the front page on Saturday, March 2, covered a fight in the aftermath of a high school basketball postseason game between Dunbar and Beavercreek at the University of Dayton field house the night before.
After Beavercreek won 74-73 to oust 18-1 and top-seeded Dunbar, a fight broke out that was called one of the worst in recent memory in the area. One man, the grandfather of a Beavercreek cheerleader, died of a heart attack. Beavercreek players Tim Swain and Bob Brookover were stabbed.
The Beavercreek players waited two hours to leave the gym on a city bus because the tires of their team bus had been slashed.
“Everywhere I looked,” said private security officer Emmett Watts, “someone had a bloody face.”
1974: $1-a-gallon gas? Receipt says yes; dealer says no
It was front-page news on Saturday, March 2, when resident Fran Snyder told the Dayton Daily News she was charged $1 per gallon for gas.
She showed a reporter her receipt, which indicated she paid $5.42 for 5.49 gallons on a fill-up. The station owner said there was an issue and she should not have been charged that much because gas should’ve cost 54.2 cents per gallon.
“A dollar is a little out of line,” she said. “I’d be better off to walk.”
2003: Showtime! Celebrities, local performers dazzle Schuster patrons
The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center officially held its first show on Saturday, March 1 with a star-studded lineup including emcee Walter Cronkite, actress Allison Janney, Gov. Bob Taft and more. Performances included the Dayton Ballet and the Dayton Philharmonic.
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