Category Archives: Dayton Fun Facts

This Day in History – August 29th, 1876

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On August 29, 1876, Charles F. Kettering was born in a farmhouse near Loudonville, Ohio. After graduating high school, Kettering taught at rural schools to save for college tuition. He enrolled at the College of Wooster but had to drop out due to problems with his eyesight. He returned to teaching until he enrolled at Ohio State University, but again he had to drop out due to his eyesight. After a brief stint as a lineman, Kettering returned to Ohio State, this time graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical and electrical engineering.

As an engineer, Kettering invented an electric cash register that eliminated the need for a hand crank, developed the first self-starting auto ignition system, and organized the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco). Kettering had more than 140 patents.

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This Day in History – April 19, 1919

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One hundred years ago today, Leslie Leroy Irvin successfully tested the Type-A parachute by jumping from an airplane. The new chute performed without issue, but Irvin broke his ankle upon landing.

During WWI, Irvin joined the Parachute Research Team of the Army Air Service. The expanding aviation industry created a need for parachutes in the event of aircraft failure. Irvin helped develop the Airplane Free-Fall Parachute Type-A. This parachute incorporated 3 elements:

  • Parachutes needed to be stored in a pack on the user’s back
  • A ripcord, to manually deploy the parachute a safe distance away from the plane.
  • A pilot chute that would draw the main canopy out of the main pack.

Irvin was so confident in this product that he volunteered to test it himself. With pilot James Floyd Smith at the controls, Irvin jumped. As a result of his jump, the new parachute was put into production. Months later, Irvin formed the Irving Air Chute Company in Buffalo, New York.

A popular story is that the company was intended to be named the Irvin Air Chute Company, but a secretary spelled Irvin’s name wrong and he never bothered to correct it. According to the company, the earliest man to be saved by an Irving Parachute was William O’Connor at McCook Field.

We were on Gem City Tonight!

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Our appearance on Gem City Tonight is now live! Thanks so much to Andrew Mitakides and Gem City Tonight for having us!

The line up for the episode was:

Dayton Unknown
And Lucky, Mr. Gay Ohio 2018

And always, the musical stylings of Aimee James and the Gems!

Check it out!

Dayton’s UFO Sighting/Hoax

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A cell phone video showing what appears to be a blue flying object hovering over Wright Patterson Air Force Base went viral in May 2016.

The video, supposedly captured by an unidentified woman, was shown on Fox News and other news circuits around the world. It showed a blue object flying in and out of sight behind a cloud, appearing to “move with the clouds” as the woman in the video stated.

Experts ranging from a Dayton Astrophysicist to a UFO Investigator from Cleveland have debunked the video, presuming that the website promoting the video, Secureteam 10 may have been getting paid for advertising every time they showed the video. The website did not release the source of the video, the identity of the couple they claimed filmed the video, or any other information.

A spokesperson from WPAFB denied any connection to the video or any activities related to it.

Trains & Trolleys

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The first street car line in Dayton was built by the Dayton Street Railway Company, which was chartered in 1869 with John V. Kreidler as the first superintendent.The line extended from the land of W.P. Huffman on East Third Street, to the land of H.S. Williams on West Third Street. One hour and 20 minutes was required to make the round trip from Western Avenue to Findlay Street.

DSR Trolley Train

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Farmersville Bottle Farm

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“I would live by my wits while my brothers live by the sweat of their brows.”– Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel, Grandfather of Pop Art

Tired of the hard-working routine of Farmersville, Zero and a friend decided to bike first to New York City, head west, then travel the world, collecting items along the way. Later, his home in Farmersville and also his yard would be decorated extensively with these items. His twenty-two acre farm soon became a canvas for his art, using glass he collected from “wasteful” people.

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Source: Remarkable Ohio

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Going Out With a Bang: My God, I’ve Shot Myself

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Clement Vallandigham (July 29, 1820 – June 17, 1871)

It was going to be the biggest case of his life. Fifty year old Dayton Attorney Clement Vallandigham was to defend Thomas McGehan, who was charged with murder for a barroom brawl turned deadly in Hamilton, Ohio. Having been unable to find a jury un-swayed by newspaper reports in Hamilton, the trial moved to Lebanon.

Vallandigham and his partner, Daniel Haynes, formed a practice that had become “one of the best and ablest in the West”, with stories of Vallandigham making final pleas so persuasive that the jury was left in tears. Nobody researched more than he did, and he was adept at anticipating the rebuttal arguments of the opposing lawyers.

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More Interesting Dayton Facts

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  • Susan Koerner Wright, mother of Wilbur and Orville, enjoyed making things for and with her children. Reportedly, her husband Milton could not hammer a nail straight, and she was the handy person in the family. She often made toys for the children, and even put together some small appliances to make her household chores easier.
  • In 1900, Dayton listed more inventions than any other city in the United States.
  • John Patterson could not stand Charles Kettering, and would often fire him from his company, NCR. Edward Deeds would always hire him back.
  • During rainy seasons, carriages would get stuck in the mud. To remedy this, huge logs were buried under the mud, lining Dayton streets in a “corduroy” fashion, preventing wagons and animals from sinking.

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Interesting Dayton Facts

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During one of our research sessions at the library, we found a great book, For the Love of Dayton: Life in the Miami Valley 1796-2001, that was published by the Dayton Daily News in 2001. The book chronicles the history of Dayton year-by-year in little blurbs, and there were a lot of fascinating facts that we just had to share!

  • 1803 – Colonel George Newcom became the first sheriff, serving until 1809. He took little pity on lawbreakers, lowering alleged offenders into his empty well, where they remained until trial.

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