Jesse Owens

March 31, 1980 – James Cleveland Jesse Owens dies. An Ohio State University grad, the Buckeye Bullet was the grandson of a slave and came to Glenville in Cleveland in 1922 when he was 9. Four golds in the 1936 Berlin Olympics drove Adolph Hitler nuts. After a New York City ticker-tape parade, Jim Crow laws forced Owens to ride the freight elevator to attend his own reception at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
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Bob Hope

March 30, 1908 – Five-year-old Bob Hope, headed to Cleveland with his mother and father, is inspected at Ellis Island after traveling from England to America. His father finds work as a stone mason. Hope would grow up in Cleveland – where people know fun from the day they’re slapped on the butt – to become a comedian for the ages.
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Doris Day

March 29, 1945 - Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff sings Sentimental Journey right onto the billboard charts and into history. Doris, who was born in Evanston in Cincinnati, soon becomes America’s sweetheart as ever-cheerful Doris Day.
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Palm Sunday tornadoes

March 28, 1920 – Holy days mean nothing to the wind. Palm Sunday tornadoes roll through Western Ohio and kill 29 people. One storm’s path of destruction was 1,200 feet wide.
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Kirtland Temple

March 27, 1836 - The first structure of its kind to be built by the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the Kirtland Temple was constructed under the direction of founder Joseph Smith Jr. and dedicated on this day. Smith would later be killed by a mob in Carthage, Ill., but not before he had visions of Adam, Abraham, Jesus, Moses and Elijah at this pulpit.


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DAILY DOUBLE

DAILY DOUBLE
March 26, 1970: At the Cincinnati Pop Festival, bare-chested singer Iggy Pop of the Stooges proves himself one of rock's wildest performers by smearing peanut butter on himself while performing "TV Eye" and "1970" as adoring (and possibly hungry) fans flock to him. Detroit's Stooges are only eighth-billed, behind Joe Cocker and Savoy Brown.
March 26, 1931 - Leo Bentley bowls 3 consecutive perfect games in Lorain.
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DAILY DOUBLE

DAILY DOUBLE
March 25, 1932: Gloria Steinem, American feminist and journalist who founded Ms. magazine, is born in Toledo. She graduated from Waite High School, before leaving for Smith College and fame.

March 25, 1961 – At 6.25 pounds, the 26 ¼ inch chain pickerel caught from Long Lake near Akron by Akron resident Ronald P. Kotch is a state record.
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George Sisler

March 24, 1893 – George Sisler, a Hall-of-Fame first baseman who batted .400 twice in his career and once played in every inning of a 154-game season, is born in Nimisila, also known as Manchester and New Franklin. His most-hits-in-a-season record of 257 ends in 2004 when Ichiro Suzuki gets 262 hits. Suzuki, though, got his record in a season that had five more games than Sisler’s 154-game season.
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Halle Berry

March 23, 2002: Halle Berry – a native of the Cleveland suburb of Valley View who got her first name from a now-closed Cleveland department store – wins the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in “Monster’s Ball.”
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Anita Baker

March 22, 1986 – Toledo native Anita Baker, who would win eight Grammy Awards, releases her incredible hit Rapture… “Caught up in the rapture of love…Nothing else can compare…”
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Alan Freed

March 21, 1952: Legendary disc jockey Alan Freed puts on his first rock 'n' roll concert in Cleveland. The Moondog Coronation Ball, featured The Dominoes, Veretta Dillard, Tiny Grimes & His Rockin' Highlanders with Screamin' Jay Hawkins coming up outa the coffin and Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams. The overflow crowd starts a riot - maybe the first but not the last at a rock show. I put a spell on you. . .
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin

March 20, 1852 – John P. Jewett and Co. publish Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Life Among the Lowly by Cincinnati abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe. Within a week of its release, the book would sell 10,000 copies. It had sales of 300,000 in the first year. Within two years, the book would be translated into 60 languages.
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National basketball champs

March 19, 1960 – The Ohio State University wins the NCAA national basketball championship behind the offensive output of Jerry Lucas, a Middletown native, and John Havlicek and the tenacious defense off the bench of Bobby Knight, an Orrville native.
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Richard Biggs

March 18, 1960 - Richard Biggs is born in Columbus. He would become an actor and star in Days of Our Lives as Marcus Hunter and later in the science fiction TV series Babylon 5 as Dr. Stephen Franklin. He died at the age of 44.
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Longaberger

March 17, 1999 – Former bread truck and then grocery store owner Dave Longaberger passes away but not before he creates a basket empire that some years generates more than $700 million in annual revenues for the Longaberger Co. The company revitalizes Longaberger's hometown of Dresden where more than 600,000 tourists visit annually to tour the factory and see his restored homestead.
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Who will stop the rain?

March 16, 1907 – Who will stop the rain? The rain won’t stop falling and rivers throughout Southern Ohio overflow their banks, leading to 32 deaths in towns from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati.
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Alexander Winton

March 15, 1897 – Alexander Winton incorporates the Winton Motor Carriage Co. to produce automobiles built by hand at his Cleveland factory. One hits a top speed of 33 mph around a nearby horse track. To prove the value and durability of his automobile, Winton drives it 800 miles from Cleveland to New York City. A Winton was one of the first cars to be sold commercially.
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Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner

March 14, 1943 – Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner is born in Hamilton. His rip-it-up guitar work and taste for something funky leads to the birth of the Ohio Players.
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Gary Louris

March 13, 2008 – Did you know that Toledo native Gary Louris took seven years of piano lessons, learned the guitar and finally hooked up with other band members in Minneapolis in 1985 to form the Jayhawks. He would write songs for the Dixie Chicks’ Taking the Long Way but his signature song, Somewhere Deep in Ohio, becomes a theme at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Ohio exhibit in Cleveland.
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Wyandot Popcorn Museum

Road Trip: Visit the Wyandot Popcorn Museum on the lower level of at Heritage Hall in Marion, 169 E. Church Street. There's no snack food quite like popcorn!
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Woody Hayes

March 11, 1987 – Iconic OSU gridiron coach Woody Hayes dies at 74. He coached at OSU for 28 seasons: 205 wins and 68 losses, that is, his teams won three times as many games as they lost. He is buried at Union Cemetery in Columbus, off Olentangy Road and just south of W.N. Broad St.
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Record Sauger

March 10, 1981 - At 7.31 pounds and 24 ½ inches long, a state record Sauger is landed by fisherman Bryan Wicks of Maumee while fishing in the Maumee River.
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Shad Gregory Moss

March 9, 1987 – Shad Gregory Moss is born in Reynoldsburg near Columbus. He would release his first album in 1990, Beware of Dog, as a 13-year-old rapper/singer named Lil’ Bow Wow. It sold 2.5 million copies! He is a rare rapper with longevity, who has released an impressive count 'em six studio albums.
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Gnadenhutten Massacre

March 8, 1782 - Gnadenhutten Massacre - Ohio militia kills 90 Indians who had converted to Christianity. The Indians greeted the marauders with open arms and baskets of food. Say a little prayer for them today.
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Bootsy and Catfish Collins

March 7, 1970: Soul star James Brown is annoyed with his band’s performance and fires them all. He asks his manager to get a Cincinnati soul band to substitute. Soon teen bassist Bootsy Collins of Cincinnati, his guitarist brother Catfish and others are Brown’s new band, leading to a glorious funk period that produced “Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine,” “Super Bad” and “Give It Up Or Turnit a Loose.”
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Screamin' Jay Hawkins

March 6, 1991 – The Clash is atop the UK charts with Should I Stay or Should I Go. They decide to go – out on tour. Opening act? Screamin' Jay Hawkins, still climbing out of his coffin. A Cleveland native, Hawkins inspired shock rockers for decades with his '56 hit I Put a Spell on You. Hawkins first show? Alan Freed's 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball, the birth of rock and roll & he's still climbing out of the coffin.
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DAILY DOUBLE

DAILY DOUBLE

March 5, 1897 – William McKinley of Canton wakes up to his second day in office as the 25th president of the United States. He would be the last Civil War veteran to occupy the White House - a term and life cut short by assassin Leon Czolgosz, who shot him on a visit to Buffalo, N.Y.

March 5, 1956 – Steve Arrington is born in Dayton. His funk band Slave creates Dancin’ in the Key of Life - a Top Ten R&B single.
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Bob Lewis

March 4, 1946 – Bob Lewis is born. Founding member of the band Devo, Lewis also had played basketball briefly under Coach Bobby Knight, attended Kent State University and eventually wins litigation against Devo for theft of intellectual property thanks to tapes he had of a recording session at a makeshift studio above Guido’s Pizza in Kent.
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The Choir

March 3, 2006 – The Choir reunites at The Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland and performs the '67 hit Baby It’s Cold Outside - by Dan Klawon. Klawon, an electrical contractor in Painesville, sings and plays piano on Sundays at Lakeside Baptist Church. Former band member Jim Bonfanti, formerly of the Raspberries, sells cars in nearby Mentor. Eric Carmen was 18 at the time. Joey Ramone backed by Stiv Bators covered this hit.
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Tommy James

March 2, 1969 – Crimson and Clover by Dayton native Thomas Gregory Jackson, now known as Tommy James, tears up the U.S. song charts to eventually hit number one. Lots of people thought he was singing “Christmas is over….
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Electric lighting

Did you know? Electric lighting of public streets came to the world thanks to Charles F. Brush, who was born in Euclid about 10 miles east of downtown Cleveland.
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