Tag Archives: Dayton history

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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Grant’s Construction Services, LLC

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We recently had one of our followers reach out to us with the idea of featuring some local, home-grown businesses, and we just loved the idea! Thanks, Jared!

If you know of a local, home-grown business that you think should be featured by us, let us know via the Contact Us page! We would love to support local business in any way we can.

Today, we are featuring Grant’s Construction Services, LLC!

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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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Wright Library Literary Zine Reception

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As we shared back in February, Wright Memorial Public Library turned 80 this year!

To celebrate, Wright Library decided to publish 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 both submitted written pieces to the zine, and we were both lucky enough to be selected for publication in the zine Glide and the online zine, Glide On! We will update with the link after the online zine is released!

There is a reception and open mic tonight from 7-8:30 at Wright Library to celebrate the release of the print and online zines! If you are interested in a copy of the print edition or want to join the festivities, please stop by!

Wright Memorial Public Library
1776 Far Hills Avenue
Oakwood, Ohio 45419

Also, next weekend is the Gem City Made craft show! We went last year and had a blast!

Where:
Beavercreek Nazarene Church
1850 N Fairfield Road
Beavercreek, OH 45432

When:
Saturday, May 4th, 2019 from 9am-3pm

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.

This Day in History – March 26, 1913

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106 years ago, the worst flood disaster in Ohio history hit Dayton. Water flowed through the Great Miami and its tributaries at ten times its capacities. The amount of water flowing through Dayton’s river channel was equivalent to the amount of water flowing through Niagara Falls in four days.

Here are a few facts about the Great Flood of 1913:

  • There were 467 deaths recorded statewide.

  • 92 deaths were recorded in Dayton, but the National Weather Service estimates between 98 and 123.

  • After the flood, teak and mahogany from Dayton that was used to make railroad cars was found as far downriver as New Orleans.

  • The Dayton Sanitation Department reported 133,600 wagon loads of debris moved, 13,991 houses and cellars cleaned, 1,420 dead horses and 2,000 other dead animals removed.

  • The Dayton Library lost 46,000 books.

  • The flood waters caused many ruptured gas lines, which in turn caused many fires.

  • Ohio Governor James Cox called the 1913 flood “The Nation’s worst tragedy since the Civil War.”

  • President Woodrow Wilson offered to come to Ohio to do what he could to help.

  • Water rushed through the streets at speeds up to 25 MPH.

  • Before surveying the land, Israel Ludlow was warned by the Natives that this area was prone to flooding, but he ignored their warnings.

    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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    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.

    It’s Our 5th Anniversary!

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    On January 27th, 2014, Dayton Unknown shared our very first post.

    Since then…

    170 Posts
    52,095 Views
    750 Followers on WordPress
    387 Posts on Instagram
    2,414 Followers on Instagram
    288 Likes on Facebook
    So many wonderful people met.
    And an unquantifiable amount of facts learned about Dayton.

    Here are a few highlights of the past five years:

    We are so excited to see what the future holds for us!

    As always, if you have any story ideas or questions you’d like us to look into, please let us know! There are so many ways to contact us – leave a comment down below, via the Contact Us page, send an email (daytonunknown@hotmail.com), send a message on Facebook or Instagram (@daytonunknown), etc..