Here’s a look at some stories from the week of Oct. 27-Nov. 2.
Oct. 31, 1937: Remodeled old courthouse basement to protect important county records
The records being stored in the old courthouse basement at Third and Main streets were being destroyed by mice, insects and moisture. Something had to be done about it.
The old basement was dark, foul-smelling, had no ventilation and a dirt floor.
After a remodel, it had a concrete floor, whitewashed walls, ceiling fixtures for lights and rerouted water pipes.
Documents which could never be replaced had been prey to roaches who ate out the blue in the bindings and to mice who ate the paper and used it to make nests.
The record now to be placed in steel cabinets and ventilation was added to improve air quality.
Nov. 2, 1947: Wright Field ends huge intelligence project on German Air Force secrets
It was considered one of the most fantastic projects in the annals of modern military intelligence — the collection and organizing of top German aeronautical secret and science.
It was done at the U.S. Air Force’s Air Material Command headquarters at Wright Field.
The division had completed the two-year task of evaluating, classifying, cataloging, indexing and publication (by microfilm) what was once 1,500 tons of documents. These documents represented the complete record of the gigantic German aeronautical research program.
The project made a decade of the most intensified aeronautical development program the world had ever known available to qualified U.S. aeronautical industries
Top secret details on the world’s first production jet-engine fighter, the ME-262, were included.
It was estimated that the worth of the documents was between $2 and $3 billion in 1947.
Oct. 27, 1957: Area natives have feature roles in rocket program
Natives of Dayton and the Miami Valley had featured roles in the new era of rockets and missiles in 1957.
They were Col. William H. Bowers, a graduate of Steele High School, who was executive officer of the Air Force office of scientific research, and William Holaday, of New Vienna, who was special assistant to the secretary of defense for guided missiles.
Bowers had just held a press conference to update the public on efforts to probe outer space. He talked about “Project Far Side,” which was launching test rockets from an Air Force balloon. It was reviled that a rocket had reached more than 4,000 miles into space.
Bowers graduated from Steele in 1937. He received a masters from Ohio State in psychology. He then served in the Pacific during WWII. For two years he was base adjunct at Wright-Patterson.
Oct. 29, 1967: Actor Moses returning to benefit air mission
A native Daytonian was back from Hollywood to help set up a benefit show with proceeds going to the local unit of the United Missions of Air Training and Transport (UMATT).
David Moses was to emcee the show that was to feature stars from the entertainment world.
Moses, a graduate of Chaminade high school and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, had acted in Air Force films, the television series “Never Too Young” and 10 Broadway shows.
The actor later appeared in shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Sanford and Son and Bosch: Legacy and movies including The Powers of Matthew Star, The Roommates, and Scared to Death.
Oct. 30, 1977: Inaugural Dayton River Corridor mini-marathon takes place
It took almost two minutes for the mass of humanity entered in the first Dayton River Corridor mini-marathon to cross the starting line as 1,183 people entered the 13.1-mile race.
There were world-class runners, high school stars, Sunday joggers, two people in wheelchairs and one blind runner in the pack.
The race started along Fifth Street between Stouffer’s Dayton Plaza Hotel and the Convention Center.
England’s Nick Rose broke from the lead group at the 12 1/2-mile mark and won the race with a time of 1:05.34 with an estimated 2,000 people gathered at the finish line.
Frank Shorter, the 1972 Olympic gold medalist in the marathon, was there to watch the race but could not compete due to injury.
“I can’t believe how well this race is handled and how many runners there are for the first year. It’s very impressive. I do plan to be back next year and run if I’m invited,” Shorter said.
Later known as the Dayton River Corridor Classic Half Marathon and 5K, the 45th running of the event happened in October 2023. There was no Dayton River Corridor Classic in 2024.
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