Bellefontaine

December 31, 1891 - Bellefontaine has the dubious distinction of having the oldest concrete street in the U.S., which is Court Street at the Logan County Courthouse. It was poured on this day. The town also has the shortest concrete street, McKinley Street, which is eight-feet long and was poured in front of the courthouse hitching posts. Happy New Years Bellefontaine!
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LeBron James

December 30, 1984 – LeBron James, nicknamed King James, is born in Akron. He is drafted out of high school to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers and will eventually sign a $90 million endorsement deal with Nike. His biggest achievement: a gold medal in the 2008 Olympic games.

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DAILY DOUBLE

DAILY DOUBLE December 29, 1876 – Only 87 of 159 passengers survive the Ashtabula train disaster when a bridge over Ashtabula creek collapses. Dozens die from the coal stove fire. Railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt dies within a week from the horror of it all.
December 29, 1925 - Paul B. "Pete" Dye is born in Urbana. He would help tend his father's 9-hole course and then go on to become the world's greatest designer of golf courses.
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DAILY DOUBLE

DAILY DOUBLE December 28, 1869 – William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon patents chewing gum and American high school girls have never been the same since. December 28, 1978 – Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes steps out onto the field and punches Clemson defensive lineman Charlie Bauman after the middle guard intercepts a pass and heads down the sideline near the Buckeye bench. Hayes is fired.
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World’s Largest Rocking Chair

Only a Buckeye would build a chair this big. What must be the World’s Largest Rocking Chair with a seat at 8-feet high beckons weary, Bunyanesque travelers at 1933 Hwy 45, Austinburg.
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Miami University

The campus at Miami University, known as the Cradle of Coaches and alma mater of Paul Brown, is quiet today with all the students home for the holiday break.
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Brent Mason

December 24, 1967 – Now 8, Brent Mason of Van Wert, teaches himself to play guitar by ear - a Christmas carole, perhaps. Mason is discovered by Chet Atkins and will perform with George Strait, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain and Neil Diamond. His guitar is heard on commercials for Sears, Budweiser and Betty Crocker, and Mason wins 14 awards as guitarist of the year from the Academy of Country Music.
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Tiny chapel

If it’s not the world’s smallest church, it ought to be. This tiny chapel on Ohio County Road 63 in Coolville between Athens and Belpre off Ohio 50 is about the same size as a backyard dollhouse.
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Hank Williams

December 22, 1948 – With Christmas bearing down on them, Hank Williams and his wife, Audrey, who was pregnant with Hank Jr., head to Cincinnati to the former Herzog studios at 811 Race St. downtown to record There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight, Lovesick Blues, I Heard My Mother Praying for Me and Lost on the River with Audrey. Lovesick Blues would pave the way for Williams’ debut at the Grand Old Opry and make him a country music icon.
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Archie Griffin

December 21, 1972 – This football season, OSU running back Archie Griffin, a Columbus native, is enjoying an incredible 8.9 yard average carry. Griffin would go on to become the only back-to-back Heisman Trophy winner in history.
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Fascinating Ohio

December 20, 1999 – Who goes fishing in the dead of winter? Bud Clute boats out onto Lake Erie. The Chardon resident catches a 17.33-pound, 36-inch burbot for a state record.
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Robert Urich

December 19, 1946 – The late Robert Urich, noted for his TV role in Spencer for Hire, Vega$ and 18 other shows, is born in Steubenville.
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Pure Prairie League

December 18, 1974 – Pure Prairie League, a country-rock group born in Waverly in 1969, features Craig Fuller. The group heads into the studio to record its third album. Two Lane Highway was written by Cincinnatian Larry Goshorn, who still performs as the Goshorn Brothers. The Goshorns' departure from the group opened the door for Vince Gill, who would go on to become an American country music legend.
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Orville and Wilbur Wright

December 17, 1903 - Orville Wright climbs into a wood and canvas contraption at Kitty Hawk, N.C., and what follows changes the world forever: 12 seconds and 120 feet of controlled, powered flight.
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Christmas gift to Chillicothe

December 16, 1987 - John Mellencamp, a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, plays the first of two free shows as a “Christmas gift” to Chillicothe. Mellencamp’s anthem “Small Town” led producer and fan Chip Arlidge at Chillicothe's WCFB-FM to chase Mellencamp for the shows for nearly two years. "And I ain't even done with the night....."
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Alan Freed

December 15, 1921 – Alan Freed is born in Windber, Pa., but the family moves to Salem, Ohio, where he graduates from Salem High School. Freed creates a band – the Sultans of Swing – takes an interest in radio and becomes a DJ at WKBN in Youngstown and WAKR in Akron. Thanks to Cleveland record store owner Leo Mintz, he lands at WJW in Cleveland and hosts a late-night R&B show. Rock and roll is born!
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Mothman

December 14, 1967 – Nobody on this morning notices the Silver Bridge between Kanauga and Point Pleasant, W.Va., is in danger of collapsing but people for the past year have noticed a mysterious seven-foot-tall moth man flying around town, particularly on this night. The bridge collapses within 24 hours. A statue to Mothman is across the river in Point Pleasant.
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Mrs. Jones

December 13, 1972 - Me and Mrs. Jones by soul crooner Billy Paul is atop the charts as a No. 1 single. Written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the song was written after they saw somebody they knew meeting Mrs. Jones, who was from Yellow Springs, in a café they both frequented…”We got a thannnnng, going on…..”
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Survivor

December 12, 2004 – Chris Daugherty, a soft-spoken construction worker and Ohio Department of Transportation crewman from West Jefferson, wins $1 million on the reality TV show Survivor: Vanuatu. His secret? Be the nicest guy.
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Terri Garr

December 11, 1946 – Actress Terri Garr is born in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland. A graduate of Magnificat High School in Rocky River, Garr danced in several Elvis Presley movies, was on The Andy Griffith Show and received an Academy Award nomination for Tootsie. In October 2002, Garr announced that she had multiple sclerosis and became a spokesperson for research for that terrible disease.

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Otis Redding

December 10, 1967 – Otis Redding leaves Cleveland bound for Madison, Wisc. He would never make it. His plane crashes, and all on board die.
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Eddie George

December 9, 1995 – Running back Eddie George wins the 61st Heisman Trophy for his time on the gridiron at Ohio State University. In this 1995 season, he rushed for a school record 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns to give him an incredible career average of 152.2 yards per game.
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Fascinating Ohio

Make plans to enjoy a seasonal three-course holiday dinner amid the candlelight of the Patterson Homestead in Dayton. Call (937) 293-2841 for reservations at the restored house/museum.
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Oooops

December 7, 1972 – Lucille Perk, wife of Cleveland mayor Ralph Perk, spurns an invitation to attend a dinner at the White House with President Richard M. Nixon because she didn’t really want to go. So she told her staff to tell the White House staff that it was her bowling night. Oooops. The national media have a field day with that one.
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Hooks

Dec. 6, 1866 – Ernest is Pflueger born. His father, E.A. Pflueger. created fishing lures at night at the kitchen table above his Howard St. grocery store. Thanks to Ernest, Akron would become a fishing lure mecca, and by 1916 would produce more fishing hooks than anyplace else on earth.
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George Armstrong Custer

Dec. 5, 1839 – New Rumley – George Armstrong Custer is born in this eastern Ohio hamlet. A marker and statue dedicated to Custer, who graduated last in his class at West Point and would die with two brothers at Little Big Horn, is along Ohio 646 on the west side of town.
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Only the lonely

Dec. 4, 1988 – Roy Orbison’s last concert occurs in Akron in the Civic Theater two days before his death. Under the ceiling of twinkling stars and puffy clouds, about 2,000 hear his soaring falsetto at the sold-out Sunday night show: "Only the lonely..."
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The fastest man alive

Dec. 3, 2007 – Summit County near Akron in Springfield - Art Arfons dies. Once the fastest man alive, he is buried with wrenches in his hands, a J79 jet operating manual and a jar of his beloved Bonneville salt at his side. He once tested jets by anchoring them to trees in his backyard, which must have annoyed the neighbors terribly.
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John Brown

Dec. 2, 1959 – Akron church bells peal for former Hudson resident and fervent abolitionist John Brown. Brown once herded sheep through what is now downtown Akron while ruminating on the evils of slavery. He raided a federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, W. Va., was captured by Robert E. Lee and hanged.
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DAILY DOUBLE

DAILY DOUBLE December 1, 1962 - Bobby Knight, loses the first game he coaches when his JV Black Tigers of Cuyahoga Falls fall 29-30. The loss to the Theodore Roosevelt JV Rough Riders comes on a shot at the buzzer. Knight shakes it off to become the winningest coach in NCAA history. Dec. 1, 1982 – Barney Freeman of Kansas fishes the Huron River and lands a 13.63-pound Coho Salmon that is 34 ¾ inches long and a state record.
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