Category Archives: Prominent Local Figures

This Day in History – September 22nd, 1942

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On September 22, 1942, Tony Stein enlisted in the Marine Corps. Tony graduated from Kiser High School in 1939 and worked for General Motors in the Delco Division before enlisting.

As Dayton’s only WWII Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, Tony earned the honor by his heroic actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima. While in battle, Tony went from one enemy pillbox to the next, killing 20 enemy soldiers. His gun was shot out of his hands not once, but twice. When Tony ran out of ammunition, he ran back to the beach for more, carrying a wounded fellow soldier with him. Tony removed his shoes and helmet to help him move quicker. When Tony dropped the soldier off at the beach, he grabbed ammo and ran back into action, dropped off the ammo, then returned with another injured soldier. Tony repeated this cycle many times, ultimately rescuing eight soldiers. The Marine Corps still honors him through the Tony Stein Workout.

Tony died on March 1, 1945. He was killed after volunteering to locate enemy machine gun placements that pinned down his company at Mount Suribachi. Tony was buried with honors in Calvary Cemetery in Dayton.

For the full story, check out our story Tony Stein – Dayton’s Superhero.

July 20th, 1969 – 50 years ago

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“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong, July 20th, 1969

This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of men first walking on the moon. The Apollo 11 spaceflight was launched from Florida on July 16th, 1969, and the first man to set foot on the moon was Neil Armstrong, from Wapakoneta – about an hour north of Dayton.

Neil_Armstrong_pose                                                         Source: Wikipedia

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This Day in History – June 27th, 1872

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Paul Laurence Dunbar was born on June 27, 1872 in Dayton, Ohio on Howard Street. His parents were former slaves who escaped from Kentucky, then met in Dayton after the war. He published his first works in 1892 while working as an elevator operator. Overall, Dunbar wrote twelve books of poetry, four books of short stories, five novels, and a play before his death in 1906.

My lady love lives far away,
And oh my heart is sad by day,
And ah my tears fall fast by night,
What may I do in such a plight.

Why, miles grow few when love is fleet,
And love, you know, hath flying feet;
Break off thy sighs and witness this,
How poor a thing mere distance is.

My love knows not I love her so,
And would she scorn me, did she know?
How may the tale I would impart
Attract her ear and storm her heart?

Calm thou the tempest in my breast,
Who loves in silence loves the best,
But bide thy time, she will awake,
No night so dark but morn will break.

But though my heart so strongly yearn,
My lady loves me not in turn,
How may I win the blest reply
That my void heart shall satisfy.

Love breedeth love, be thou but true,
And soon thy love shall love thee, too;
If Fate hath meant you heart for heart,
There’s naught may keep you twain apart.

Wright Library Zine

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Back in April we mentioned that to celebrate their 80th anniversary, Wright Library published an art and literary zine made up of poetry, short stories, essays, and art focusing on the Miami Valley, the Wright Brothers, and more.

We submitted written pieces to the zine and were both lucky enough to be selected for publication in the zine glide, which was published as both a hard copy and a digital copy. There were so many entries that an additional online zine, glide on was made available as well.

You can read our stories here:
The Man Who Sent Wilbur on the Wright Path by Sara Kaushal
The Missing Benches by Bethany Kmeid

While at the reception and open mic for the event, we had the honor of meeting Jeff Wilson, Author of Ohio Legends!

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This Day in History – May 1st, 1863

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In a speech in Mount Vernon on May 1, 1863, Clement Laird Vallandigham declared that the Civil War was being fought to gain “the freedom of the blacks and the enslavement of the whites.”

He went on to say that President Abraham Lincoln was using the war as an excuse to squelch Constitutional rights.

Days later, federal troops broke down the door at his home on Wilkinson and First Streets in Dayton. He was arrested for violation of General Order 38, which prohibited declarations of sympathy for the Confederacy.

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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 Unknown will be on Gem City Tonight!

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We’ve been talking about the new local late-night style talk show Gem City Tonight a lot lately, and we are pleased to say that Dayton Unknown will be appearing as guests on the show!

We taped our appearance last night, and had such a blast doing it. The crew and audience were such a great group to be around.

You can watch our segment during the show that will air on Saturday, March 16th at 8pm.

According to DATV’s website, “DATV can be seen exclusively on Spectrum channel 5 in the City of Dayton, Riverside and Butler Twp. and channels 5, 6, or 23 in Dayton’s northern suburbs.” In addition, you can live-stream, and watch on YouTube.

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Wright Library’s 80th Anniversary

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On February 14th, 1939, Wright Memorial Library opened its doors in Oakwood. In 1913, the library started in the home of a local family and in 1916 a resolution was passed to establish a public library and the library’s location moved around a few times until a bond issue was passed to build a new building on Far Hills, on the site of the Katharine Wright Park.

On the opening night of February 14th, 1939, the lights went out, which required the crowd to tour their new library by candlelight. To celebrate 80 years of service to the community and commemorate the opening night, Wright Library held a candlelight celebration with historical items on display and a telling of the story of opening night.

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Gem City Tonight with Andrew Mitakides

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Dayton is getting late night! Premiering Saturday, February 9, at 8 pm, Gem City Tonight will highlight the positive aspects of Dayton and show what a great city we are in a Late Night Show format! The lineup for the first episode is:

Dayton Unknown was lucky enough to meet with Andrew and talk with him about his show and learn more about him. Andrew was born and raised in the Dayton area, and spent ten years outside of Dayton working in voice acting, Shakespearean theater, musicals, comedies, and as a Golf Pro. He returned to Dayton at the end of 2015, with his wife Alexis. Currently, Andrew is a firefighter, Suicide Awareness Activist, Voice-Over Actor, Emcee, Ghostbuster, and now we can add Late Night Talk Show Host!

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Source: JGR Photography & Videography

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