The Journal Gazette: 160 Years of News
- The Journal Gazette
The Journal Gazette marked its 160th anniversary on May 2, 2023. Here is a collection of front pages from the newspaper's archive.
Jan. 14, 1886 – St. Mary's Church explosion
- Journal Gazette file
At fifteen minutes past 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon an appalling accident took place at the St. Mary's Catholic church, corner of Lafayette and East Jefferson streets.
In the basement was situated a boiler some nine feet in length and thirty inches in diameter.
The boiler exploded and engineer Anton Evans met with a horrible death and the church was completely wrecked. The truss roof was lifted from the building and settling down again with its heavy weight caught the parting walls before they had been sufficiently released and saved them from falling. The south wall is now out of line some sixteen inches and the north wall some fourteen inches. The roof is split at the arch and the walls will be taken down.
June 14, 1899: The first masthead of The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette
- Journal Gazette file
The first masthead of The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette appeared after the Gazette was purchased by the Journal.
Jan. 23, 1901 – Queen Victoria's death
- Journal Gazette file
COWES, Jan. 22 – Queen Victoria died at 6:30 o’clock this afternoon.
All the members of the royal family and the Emperor of Germany were gathered about the deathbed or in the rooms immediately adjoining.
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, becomes the king of Great Britain as Edward VII.
June 7, 1901 – Wayne Hotel fire
- Journal Gazette file
Flames start near the roof and get good headway before discovery. Loss of $20,000.
Sept. 23, 1902 – The new Court House
- Journal Gazette file
On the 17th day of November, 1897, the day the corner stone of the new court house was laid, the Journal-Gazette predicted that the building would be the finest of its kind in Indiana. The prophecy was far short of its realization. It has been discounted by the verdict of the admiring thousands who have seen our new structure, for the universal opinion has been that no county building in the world can in the least compare in sublimity of conception, in magnificence of execution, with the imposing pile which is to-day to be formally given into the hands of the proud people of this community.
April 19, 1906 – San Francisco earthquake
- Journal Gazette file
SAN FRANCISCO, April 18 – Earthquake and fire to-day have put nearly half of San Francisco in ruins. At least 200 people have been killed, a thousand others injured. ... Thousands of people are homeless and destitute … people have been fleeing from the stricken districts. ... It was 5:15 o’clock this morning when a terrific earthquake shook the whole city and surrounding country.
Sept. 22, 1910 – Wabash Valley wreck
- Journal Gazette file
KINGSLAND – Thirty-four were killed, four were injured so that they died soon afterward and ten were seriously injured in the worst wreck in the annals of interurban history, which occurred a quarter of a mile north of Kingsland on the Bluffton division of the Fort Wayne & Wabash Valley Traction company, shortly before 1 o'clock this afternoon when regular north-bound interurban car No. 233 rounded a curve and collided head-on with extra limited car No. 303, south-bound, and running light.
May 31, 1911 – Inaugural Indianapolis 500
- Journal Gazette file
SPEEDWAY, INDIANAPOLIS, May 30 – Ray Harroun, of Indianapolis, driving a Marmon, (Indianapolis car), won the five hundred-mile race here to-day in six hours 41 minutes and eight seconds. Mulford (Lozier) was second, and Bruce-Brown (Fiat) third. These three were bunched during the last fifty miles of the race, neither having over a few minutes’ advantage at any time.
March 17, 1912 – Fosters donate park to city
- Journal Gazette file
Colonel David N. and Samuel M. Foster today permitted the announcement of a gift by them to the city of Fort Wayne of a strip of ground along the east bank of the St. Mary's river, beginning at the Broadway pumping station and extending to the south line of the William Hartman land, including a frontage along the river of approximately one and three-fourths miles. At the same time, announcement was made that the remaining two miles between their present gift and Stellhorn's bridge will be purchased by them and given to the city as quickly as the necessary deals can be made out.
April 19, 1912 – Sinking of the Titanic
- Journal Gazette file
NEW YORK, April 19 – 4 A.M. How the White Star liner Titanic, the largest ship afloat, sank off the Grand banks of New Foundland Monday morning, last, carrying to their death 1,604 of the 2,840 persons aboard, was told with the arrival in New York of the … liner Carpathia bearing the exhausted survivors of the catastrophe.
March 25, 1913 – Flood of 1913
- Journal Gazette file
Fort Wayne is experiencing the worst flood in the past seven years. Despite the efforts of workmen employed by the county to keep back the water from the Maumee river, it rushed through the dike at the Coombs street bridge shortly before six o’clock last night, although, according to the county commissioners, they will be able to keep it from flooding that section of Fort Wayne known as Lakeside.
April 3, 1917 – Nation's entry in World War I
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON, April 2 – President Wilson to-night urged congress, assembled in joint session, to declare a state of war existing between the United States and Germany.
In a dispassionate, but unmeasured denunciation of the course of the imperial German government, which he characterized as a challenge to all mankind and a warfare against all nations, the president declared that neutrality no longer was feasible or desirable where the peace of the world was involved; that armed neutrality had become ineffectual enough at best and was likely to produce what it was meant to prevent, and urged that congress accept the gauge of battle with all the resources of the nation.
Nov. 11, 1918 – End of World War I
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON, November 11 – The world war will end this morning at six o’clock Washington time, eleven o’clock Paris time. The armistice was signed by the German representatives at midnight. This announcement was made by the state department at 2:50 o’clock this morning.
Aug. 19, 1920 – Women's voting rights ratified
- Journal Gazette file
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 18 – The amendment extending equal suffrage to American women was ratified today for inclusion in the federal constitution, the lower house of the Tennessee legislature voting 50 to 46 to concur in the senate resolution adopted Friday, 25 to 4.
Aug. 11, 1927 – Lindbergh's visit
- Journal Gazette file
America’s flying hero dropped a greeting to Fort Wayne from the air yesterday noon.
Col. Charles A. Lindbergh circled the city several times on his way from Indianapolis to Detroit on his tour of the United States to encourage popular interest in aeronautics. He was traveling in The Spirit of St. Louis, in which he flew from New York to Paris.
Oct. 29, 1929 – The Great Depression
- Journal Gazette file
NEW YORK, Oct. 28 – A second wave of selling engulfed the stock market today bringing tremendous losses to valuations which were pared down $10,000,000,000 or more in the worst break in history.
July 14, 1936 – Record heat wave
- Journal Gazette file
Death rode the heat wave in Fort Wayne and vicinity Monday. While the mercury stubbornly hung above the 100 mark, eleven residents of the city and Allen county died from the heat.
The mortality rate has taken a sharp rise since the advent of the abnormal temperature and Monday saw more deaths in a single day than have occurred for many years.
July 3, 1937 – Amelia Earhart disappears
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Amelia Earhart, the world's best-known aviatrix, and her navigator, Fred J. Noonan, were believed forced down at sea today in an $80,000 "flying laboratory" somewhere near tiny Howland island on a daring attempt to span the south Pacific.
March 27, 1938 – South Side wins state basketball title
- Journal Gazette file
BUTLER FIELDHOUSE, INDIANAPOLIS – A stout-hearted band of Archers won Indiana's highest honor tonight and brought to South Side high school Fort Wayne's first state basketball championship.
The Archers, sparkling as they rallied to turn back a determined challenge from the northern tip of the state, brought 15,000 wildly cheering fans to their feet as they defeated Hammond by a score of 34 to 32 in the final game of the 1938 edition of Hoosierdom's greatest sports classic.
Dec. 8, 1941 – Attack on Pearl Harbor
- Journal Gazette file
Japan began a “treacherous and unprovoked” war on the United States Sunday with simultaneous naval and air attacks on Hawaii, Guam and possibly the Philippines, pushing the U.S.A. to the verge of formal entry into World war II.
April 13, 1945 – Death of President Roosevelt
- Journal Gazette file
WARM SPRINGS, Ga., April 12 – (AP) – President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his strength sapped away as commander in chief in America’s greatest war, died suddenly this afternoon. His duties fell on Vice- President Harry S. Truman who, sworn in as the thirty-second President in a White House ceremony at Washington, issued this statement: “The world may be sure that we will prosecute this war on both fronts, east and west, with all the vigor we possess, to a successful conclusion.”
Nov. 11, 1950 – City officials' conspiracy case
- Journal Gazette file
Mayor Henry E. Branning Jr., four other city officials including the chief of police and a member of the City Council, and the president of a Fort Wayne Coal Company were indicted yesterday by the Allen County Grand Jury, climaxing seven weeks of investigation into city purchases of coal and other materials.
April 9, 1951 – Case for elevating city railroads
- Journal Gazette file
Fort Wayne has learned its lesson about elevation. Has learned it the hard way. The expensive way. The way that retards the city’s progress. The way that works hardships and causes inconvenience to the public. The long and unreasonable delay that has occurred in track elevation cannot be satisfactorily explained. Certainly it cannot be justified.
April 29, 1951 – Airline tragedy at Baer Field
- Journal Gazette file
A twisting storm that stretched across southeastern Allen County at 7:30 o’clock last night, outmaneuvered an inbound United Airlines transport at low altitude and sent it crashing into a scrubby woods four miles south of the city off the Thiele Road. Eleven persons aboard the ship met fiery deaths.
Sept. 29, 1952 – Memorial Coliseum dedicated
- Journal Gazette file
Winning world peace "through invincible American strength" was urged yesterday by National Commander Lewis K. Gough of the American Legion at dedication ceremonies for the $3,000,000 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Feb. 11, 1962 – Devastating downtown fire
- Journal Gazette file
The most devastating fire in Fort Wayne history raged through the former Wolf & Dessauer store buildings on Washington Boulevard for almost nine hours yesterday afternoon and evening before being brought under control about 9 p.m.
Oct. 23, 1962 – U.S. blockades Cuba
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Kennedy put into effect a U.S. blockade of Cuba Monday night, after disclosing that the Soviets are shipping into Cuba long-range weapons able to rain nuclear destruction on all the Americas.
Nov. 23, 1963 – Assassination of President Kennedy
- Journal Gazette file
DALLAS, Tex. (AP) – A gunman assassinated President Kennedy from ambush Friday with a high-powered rifle. Nearly 12 hours later, a 24-year-old man who professed love for the Soviet Union was charged with his murder.
The charge was filed against Lee Harvey Oswald. Officers said he was the man who hid on the fifth floor of a textbook warehouse and snapped off three quick shots that killed the President and wounded Gov. John B. Connally of Texas.
April 5, 1968 – Murder of Martin Luther King Jr.
- Journal Gazette file
MEMPHIS – The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize civil rights leader, was shot fatally here Thursday night while leaning over a second- floor railing outside his motel room.
Four thousand National Guard troops were ordered into Memphis by Gov. Buford Ellington after Dr. King’s death. A curfew was imposed on the city of 550,000 inhabitants, about 40 per cent of them Negro.
July 21, 1969 – First moon walk
- Journal Gazette file
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) – Two Americans landed and walked on the moon Sunday, the first human beings on its alien soil. They planted their nation’s flag and talked to their President on earth by radio-telephone. Millions on their home planet 240,000 miles away watched on television as they saluted the flag, and scouted the lunar surface.
Aug. 9, 1974 – President Nixon's resignation
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON (UPI) – President Nixon, acknowledging Watergate had destroyed him politically, announced Thursday night he would “put the interest of America first” and resign Friday in favor of Gerald R. Ford.
Jan. 28, 1978 – Blizzard of '78
- Journal Gazette file
As snow and winds died down Friday, the attention of many local officials turned to Fort Wayne food and fuel supplies, to transportation difficulties and to tiring workers.
Of course, the major goal remained the tedious and exhausting chore of digging the city out from under 17 inches of snow that lay like a heavy velvet blanket over Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.
Jan. 21, 1981 – Hostages return from Iran
- Journal Gazette file
The two hospital planes carrying the 52 released American hostages touched down at Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany at 6:45 a.m. – 12:45 a.m. EST – today.
Laughing, crying and seeming to not quite believe it, the hostages flew to freedom, their liberty bought with $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets in the final hours of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
March 15, 1982 – Flood forces 3,300 from homes
- Journal Gazette file
Gov. Robert D. Orr Sunday night declared Fort Wayne and Allen County a disaster area as the worst flood in 69 years forced as many as 3,300 people from their homes and caused millions of dollars in damage.
July 16, 1983 – International Harvester's shutdown
- Journal Gazette file
Clete Schmidt of Rockford, Ohio, climbed in the cab of the green, Model 4200 International Harvester truck at about 2:40 Friday afternoon on the B Line of the Fort Wayne IH plant.
He started the engine. He blew the air horn, tested the lights and brakes, and blew the horn again before driving it off the line.
It’s the standard procedure for finishing a truck at the Fort Wayne Harvester works. But it wasn’t a standard day.
Jan. 18, 1984 – Suspected killer's suicide
- Journal Gazette file
Calvin D. Perry III was found dead in his Allen County Jail cell Tuesday morning about 15 hours after he was charged with a triple slaying.
Perry, also known as Calvin Corey, hanged himself from his cell between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m., said Allen County Coroner Dr. Roland C. Ahlbrand. The suicide came days after Perry was moved from a first-floor, separate cell to a third-floor cellblock, where he was less visible to guards.
Sept. 1, 1984 – GM's choice for truck plant
- Journal Gazette file
General Motors Corp. ended the suspense Friday morning.
The giant automaker will begin construction of a $500 million pickup assembly plant in southwest Allen County within a month, with production expected in about two years. The plant will employ about 3,000 on two shifts.
July 9, 1985 – Saga of Win Moses Jr.
- Journal Gazette file
Mayor Win Moses Jr. resigned Monday and immediately launched a campaign to regain his job after pleading guilty to three misdemeanor charges of failing to report campaign contributions.
Jan. 29, 1986 – The Challenger disaster
- Journal Gazette file
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Challenger blew apart shortly after liftoff Tuesday, killing all seven crew members, including a schoolteacher chosen to become the first private American citizen to venture into space.
Aug. 17, 1988 – Surprising choice for running mate
- Journal Gazette file
NEW ORLEANS – It’s Bush and Quayle in ’88.
George Bush, who said several weeks ago his choice for a running mate on the Republican ticket would be a surprise, provided just that Tuesday as he picked Dan Quayle, Indiana’s junior senator, for the No. 2 spot.
And nobody, it seemed, was more surprised at the choice than the Indiana delegates to the GOP national convention, who heard the news Tuesday afternoon.
Jan. 17, 1991 – Operation Desert Storm
- Journal Gazette file
CENTRAL SAUDI ARABIA – The United States and its allies hurled a mighty air armada against Iraq early today to crush the Arab nation’s military power and drive it from conquered Kuwait.
April 20, 1993 – Inferno at cult's compound
- Journal Gazette file
WACO, Texas – In a fiery ending as apocalyptic as the prophecies he issued, religious cult leader David Koresh and scores of his followers were immolated within the walls of his Texas prairie compound Monday morning in a blaze that his followers reportedly set after federal agents smashed into the building with an armored vehicle.
Sept. 3, 1993 – Fire destroys historic church
- Journal Gazette file
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, a historic landmark that has graced downtown Fort Wayne for more than a century, lies in ruins this morning. Fire roared through the church at Lafayette Street and Jefferson Boulevard during a driving rainstorm Thursday.
Chimes from another church echoed through the downtown near 4 p.m.– just before the top of St. Mary’s 237-foot steeple crashed to the ground.
April 20, 1995 – Oklahoma City bombing
- Journal Gazette file
OKLAHOMA CITY – A half-ton car bomb blew away nearly half of a nine-story federal building Wednesday in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 31 people. The dead included at least 12 children.
More than 300 people were missing and more than 200 were injured, authorities said.
Some of the children had just been dropped off by their parents at a child-care center.
Oct. 4, 1995 – O.J. Simpson verdict
- Journal Gazette file
O.J. Simpson reacts Tuesday as he is found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
Aug. 31, 1997 – Massive tire fire; death of Diana
- Journal Gazette file
A fire at a warehouse holding up to 600,000 tires Saturday led Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke to declare an emergency, triggering the evacuation of two nearby apartment complexes, some homes and city police headquarters.
♦ ♦ ♦
PARIS – Britain’s Princess Diana, who had been struggling to build a new public and private life after her turbulent divorce, was killed Sunday Paris time along with her companion, Dodi Fayed, in a car crash as their Mercedes was being pursued by photographers.
Nov. 13, 1998 – Lincoln moves executives out of city
- Journal Gazette file
Lincoln National Corp. said Thursday it will move its headquarters from Fort Wayne to the Philadelphia area by the middle of next year.
While only 60 jobs of the company's Fort Wayne 3,700-member workforce are affected by the relocation, the move nevertheless strips the city's business community of some of its most powerful corporate decision-makers and ends an era of locally based management that began nearly a century ago.
Sept. 11, 2000 – Legendary IU coach's dismissal
- Journal Gazette file
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University president Myles Brand announced Sunday that he has fired basketball coach Bob Knight. Knight was in Canada on a fishing trip over the weekend and returned to Bloomington late Sunday, where he was expected to meet with the Hoosier players. Brand said he phoned Knight to inform him of the decision.
Sept. 11, 2001 – Sept. 11 attacks
- Journal Gazette file
Terrorists unleashed an astonishing air assault on America’s military and financial power centers Tuesday morning, hijacking four commercial jets and then crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania countryside.
March 20, 2003 – Bombing of Baghdad
- Journal Gazette file
BAGHDAD, Iraq – With thundering explosions over Baghdad, the United States launched a preliminary salvo at dawn today in what could become all-out war against Saddam Hussein in an attempt to drive him from office and disarm Iraq.
Sept. 11, 2007 – Newspapers' new press
- Journal Gazette file
Fort Wayne Newspapers heralded the company’s Technicolor future at the Monday ribbon cutting for its $35 million printing press building.
The press has the capability to print every page of The Journal Gazette or The News-Sentinel in color. It also will print faster and reproduce sharper images than the current press, said Michael J. Christman, publisher of The News-Sentinel and chief executive of Fort Wayne Newspapers.
Nov. 5, 2008 – Historic presidential election
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was elected the nation’s 44th president Tuesday, riding a reformist message of change and an inspirational exhortation of hope to become the first black man to ascend to the White House.
April 17, 2009 – First pitch at Parkview Field
- Journal Gazette file
The Fort Wayne TinCaps’ first game at Parkview Field ended with fireworks but began with different explosions: thousands of people downtown and of fans’ pride in a new ballpark.
May 2, 2011 – Death of Osama bin Laden
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation in Pakistan led by the United States, President Obama said late Sunday.
Dec. 27, 2011 – Slaying of Aliahna Lemmon
- Journal Gazette file
The remains of 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon were found Monday, and the family friend with whom she had been staying while her mother recovered from the flu has been charged with murder in her death.
Sept. 26, 2012 – Myanmar dignitary's visit
- Journal Gazette file
Aung San Suu Kyi inspired cheers, chants and countless photographs during her public appearance Tuesday at Memorial Coliseum.
Many of the estimated 5,000 spectators were refugees and immigrants who fled Myanmar, formerly called Burma, and the military regime that had kept democracy activist Suu Kyi on house arrest for most of the past two decades.
Dec. 15, 2012 – Newton school massacre
- Journal Gazette file
NEWTOWN, Conn. – A man killed his mother at their home and then opened fire Friday inside the elementary school where she taught, massacring 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in fear to the sound of gunshots reverberating through the building and screams echoing over the intercom.
June 27, 2015 – Same-sex marriage declared legal across U.S.
- Journal Gazette file
INDIANAPOLIS – Monica Wehrle and Harriet Miller got a heck of an anniversary present Friday when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states.
The longtime Fort Wayne couple were plaintiffs in one of the Indiana cases in which the state’s same-sex marriage ban was struck down. They married one year and one day before Friday’s ruling.
Nov. 3, 2016 – Cubs win first World Series since 1908
- Journal Gazette file
CLEVELAND – The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series championship since 1908 when Ben Zobrist hit a go-ahead double in the 10th inning, beating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in a thrilling Game 7 delayed by rain early Thursday.
Lovable losers for generations, the Cubs nearly let this one get away, too.
Nov. 10, 2016 – Donald Trump elected president
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Emboldened Republicans claimed a mandate Wednesday for President-elect Donald Trump after his astonishing election triumph, and an emotional Hillary Clinton told crestfallen supporters the GOP victor deserved a “chance to lead.” President Barack Obama pledged a smooth transition of power.
July 16, 2018 – Arrest in Tinsley case
- Journal Gazette file
Allen County prosecutors announced the arrest of John D. Miller, 59, of Grabill, in the 1988 death of 8-year-old April Tinsley.
It was the first arrest in a case that received attention from national media outlets, stretched from the 20th into the 21st century and featured dozens of investigators from the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police and other law enforcement agencies.
Nov. 6, 2019 – Henry's re-election makes history
- Journal Gazette file
In his biggest victory since 2007, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry was elected to another four-year term Tuesday, making him the only mayor in city history to be elected to four consecutive terms in office.
March 24, 2020 – Stay-at-home order issued for Indiana
- Journal Gazette file
INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Eric Holcomb played on patriotism and duty Monday as he asked Hoosiers to hunker down and issued a stay-at-home order that begins Wednesday.
Holcomb stressed that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise and hospitals are becoming overrun.
May 30, 2020 – Protests over death of George Floyd
- Journal Gazette file
A Friday evening demonstration near the Allen County Courthouse began peacefully but turned potentially unsafe after Fort Wayne police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The demonstration started at 5 p.m. and was initially scheduled to go until 8 p.m. But crowds were still gathered after 9:30 p.m., with some pledging to remain through the night if necessary to express their concerns about Monday’s death of a black man Minneapolis police were restraining.
Jan. 7, 2021 – Protestors storm U.S. Capitol
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.
July 3, 2021 – Komets win Kelly Cup
- Journal Gazette file
The season that almost never happened ended in the best possible way – with the Komets winning the Kelly Cup.
They cemented the championship with a 2-1 victory Friday night over the South Carolina Stingrays in front of a sellout crowd of 10,477 at Memorial Coliseum.
Oct. 30, 2022 – Examining diversity in schools
- Journal Gazette file
Subject Matters: Diversity in Schools took an in-depth look at the changes, challenges, occasional tensions and opportunities that come with increasingly diverse student populations.
The project, supported by a grant from the Education Writers Association, began Oct. 30, 2022, and continued on Sundays through November.
The first story in the series took a look at the changing student demographics at Allen County's four school districts since 2007. The series included a look at how diversity and inclusion is being handled in Bloomington, Indiana, and along with more than half a dozen other news stories by Education Reporter Ashley Sloboda, The Journal Gazette invited high school students to write essays. Nearly 80 students responded and cash prizes of nearly $1,000 in total went to the top four, as determined by a panel of judges.
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Jan. 14, 1886 – St. Mary's Church explosion
- Journal Gazette file
At fifteen minutes past 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon an appalling accident took place at the St. Mary's Catholic church, corner of Lafayette and East Jefferson streets.
In the basement was situated a boiler some nine feet in length and thirty inches in diameter.
The boiler exploded and engineer Anton Evans met with a horrible death and the church was completely wrecked. The truss roof was lifted from the building and settling down again with its heavy weight caught the parting walls before they had been sufficiently released and saved them from falling. The south wall is now out of line some sixteen inches and the north wall some fourteen inches. The roof is split at the arch and the walls will be taken down.
Jan. 23, 1901 – Queen Victoria's death
- Journal Gazette file
COWES, Jan. 22 – Queen Victoria died at 6:30 o’clock this afternoon.
All the members of the royal family and the Emperor of Germany were gathered about the deathbed or in the rooms immediately adjoining.
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, becomes the king of Great Britain as Edward VII.
Sept. 23, 1902 – The new Court House
- Journal Gazette file
On the 17th day of November, 1897, the day the corner stone of the new court house was laid, the Journal-Gazette predicted that the building would be the finest of its kind in Indiana. The prophecy was far short of its realization. It has been discounted by the verdict of the admiring thousands who have seen our new structure, for the universal opinion has been that no county building in the world can in the least compare in sublimity of conception, in magnificence of execution, with the imposing pile which is to-day to be formally given into the hands of the proud people of this community.
April 19, 1906 – San Francisco earthquake
- Journal Gazette file
SAN FRANCISCO, April 18 – Earthquake and fire to-day have put nearly half of San Francisco in ruins. At least 200 people have been killed, a thousand others injured. ... Thousands of people are homeless and destitute … people have been fleeing from the stricken districts. ... It was 5:15 o’clock this morning when a terrific earthquake shook the whole city and surrounding country.
Sept. 22, 1910 – Wabash Valley wreck
- Journal Gazette file
KINGSLAND – Thirty-four were killed, four were injured so that they died soon afterward and ten were seriously injured in the worst wreck in the annals of interurban history, which occurred a quarter of a mile north of Kingsland on the Bluffton division of the Fort Wayne & Wabash Valley Traction company, shortly before 1 o'clock this afternoon when regular north-bound interurban car No. 233 rounded a curve and collided head-on with extra limited car No. 303, south-bound, and running light.
May 31, 1911 – Inaugural Indianapolis 500
- Journal Gazette file
SPEEDWAY, INDIANAPOLIS, May 30 – Ray Harroun, of Indianapolis, driving a Marmon, (Indianapolis car), won the five hundred-mile race here to-day in six hours 41 minutes and eight seconds. Mulford (Lozier) was second, and Bruce-Brown (Fiat) third. These three were bunched during the last fifty miles of the race, neither having over a few minutes’ advantage at any time.
March 17, 1912 – Fosters donate park to city
- Journal Gazette file
Colonel David N. and Samuel M. Foster today permitted the announcement of a gift by them to the city of Fort Wayne of a strip of ground along the east bank of the St. Mary's river, beginning at the Broadway pumping station and extending to the south line of the William Hartman land, including a frontage along the river of approximately one and three-fourths miles. At the same time, announcement was made that the remaining two miles between their present gift and Stellhorn's bridge will be purchased by them and given to the city as quickly as the necessary deals can be made out.
April 19, 1912 – Sinking of the Titanic
- Journal Gazette file
NEW YORK, April 19 – 4 A.M. How the White Star liner Titanic, the largest ship afloat, sank off the Grand banks of New Foundland Monday morning, last, carrying to their death 1,604 of the 2,840 persons aboard, was told with the arrival in New York of the … liner Carpathia bearing the exhausted survivors of the catastrophe.
March 25, 1913 – Flood of 1913
- Journal Gazette file
Fort Wayne is experiencing the worst flood in the past seven years. Despite the efforts of workmen employed by the county to keep back the water from the Maumee river, it rushed through the dike at the Coombs street bridge shortly before six o’clock last night, although, according to the county commissioners, they will be able to keep it from flooding that section of Fort Wayne known as Lakeside.
April 3, 1917 – Nation's entry in World War I
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON, April 2 – President Wilson to-night urged congress, assembled in joint session, to declare a state of war existing between the United States and Germany.
In a dispassionate, but unmeasured denunciation of the course of the imperial German government, which he characterized as a challenge to all mankind and a warfare against all nations, the president declared that neutrality no longer was feasible or desirable where the peace of the world was involved; that armed neutrality had become ineffectual enough at best and was likely to produce what it was meant to prevent, and urged that congress accept the gauge of battle with all the resources of the nation.
Nov. 11, 1918 – End of World War I
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON, November 11 – The world war will end this morning at six o’clock Washington time, eleven o’clock Paris time. The armistice was signed by the German representatives at midnight. This announcement was made by the state department at 2:50 o’clock this morning.
Aug. 19, 1920 – Women's voting rights ratified
- Journal Gazette file
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 18 – The amendment extending equal suffrage to American women was ratified today for inclusion in the federal constitution, the lower house of the Tennessee legislature voting 50 to 46 to concur in the senate resolution adopted Friday, 25 to 4.
Aug. 11, 1927 – Lindbergh's visit
- Journal Gazette file
America’s flying hero dropped a greeting to Fort Wayne from the air yesterday noon.
Col. Charles A. Lindbergh circled the city several times on his way from Indianapolis to Detroit on his tour of the United States to encourage popular interest in aeronautics. He was traveling in The Spirit of St. Louis, in which he flew from New York to Paris.
July 14, 1936 – Record heat wave
- Journal Gazette file
Death rode the heat wave in Fort Wayne and vicinity Monday. While the mercury stubbornly hung above the 100 mark, eleven residents of the city and Allen county died from the heat.
The mortality rate has taken a sharp rise since the advent of the abnormal temperature and Monday saw more deaths in a single day than have occurred for many years.
July 3, 1937 – Amelia Earhart disappears
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Amelia Earhart, the world's best-known aviatrix, and her navigator, Fred J. Noonan, were believed forced down at sea today in an $80,000 "flying laboratory" somewhere near tiny Howland island on a daring attempt to span the south Pacific.
March 27, 1938 – South Side wins state basketball title
- Journal Gazette file
BUTLER FIELDHOUSE, INDIANAPOLIS – A stout-hearted band of Archers won Indiana's highest honor tonight and brought to South Side high school Fort Wayne's first state basketball championship.
The Archers, sparkling as they rallied to turn back a determined challenge from the northern tip of the state, brought 15,000 wildly cheering fans to their feet as they defeated Hammond by a score of 34 to 32 in the final game of the 1938 edition of Hoosierdom's greatest sports classic.
Dec. 8, 1941 – Attack on Pearl Harbor
- Journal Gazette file
Japan began a “treacherous and unprovoked” war on the United States Sunday with simultaneous naval and air attacks on Hawaii, Guam and possibly the Philippines, pushing the U.S.A. to the verge of formal entry into World war II.
April 13, 1945 – Death of President Roosevelt
- Journal Gazette file
WARM SPRINGS, Ga., April 12 – (AP) – President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his strength sapped away as commander in chief in America’s greatest war, died suddenly this afternoon. His duties fell on Vice- President Harry S. Truman who, sworn in as the thirty-second President in a White House ceremony at Washington, issued this statement: “The world may be sure that we will prosecute this war on both fronts, east and west, with all the vigor we possess, to a successful conclusion.”
Nov. 11, 1950 – City officials' conspiracy case
- Journal Gazette file
Mayor Henry E. Branning Jr., four other city officials including the chief of police and a member of the City Council, and the president of a Fort Wayne Coal Company were indicted yesterday by the Allen County Grand Jury, climaxing seven weeks of investigation into city purchases of coal and other materials.
April 9, 1951 – Case for elevating city railroads
- Journal Gazette file
Fort Wayne has learned its lesson about elevation. Has learned it the hard way. The expensive way. The way that retards the city’s progress. The way that works hardships and causes inconvenience to the public. The long and unreasonable delay that has occurred in track elevation cannot be satisfactorily explained. Certainly it cannot be justified.
April 29, 1951 – Airline tragedy at Baer Field
- Journal Gazette file
A twisting storm that stretched across southeastern Allen County at 7:30 o’clock last night, outmaneuvered an inbound United Airlines transport at low altitude and sent it crashing into a scrubby woods four miles south of the city off the Thiele Road. Eleven persons aboard the ship met fiery deaths.
Sept. 29, 1952 – Memorial Coliseum dedicated
- Journal Gazette file
Winning world peace "through invincible American strength" was urged yesterday by National Commander Lewis K. Gough of the American Legion at dedication ceremonies for the $3,000,000 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Feb. 11, 1962 – Devastating downtown fire
- Journal Gazette file
The most devastating fire in Fort Wayne history raged through the former Wolf & Dessauer store buildings on Washington Boulevard for almost nine hours yesterday afternoon and evening before being brought under control about 9 p.m.
Oct. 23, 1962 – U.S. blockades Cuba
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Kennedy put into effect a U.S. blockade of Cuba Monday night, after disclosing that the Soviets are shipping into Cuba long-range weapons able to rain nuclear destruction on all the Americas.
Nov. 23, 1963 – Assassination of President Kennedy
- Journal Gazette file
DALLAS, Tex. (AP) – A gunman assassinated President Kennedy from ambush Friday with a high-powered rifle. Nearly 12 hours later, a 24-year-old man who professed love for the Soviet Union was charged with his murder.
The charge was filed against Lee Harvey Oswald. Officers said he was the man who hid on the fifth floor of a textbook warehouse and snapped off three quick shots that killed the President and wounded Gov. John B. Connally of Texas.
April 5, 1968 – Murder of Martin Luther King Jr.
- Journal Gazette file
MEMPHIS – The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize civil rights leader, was shot fatally here Thursday night while leaning over a second- floor railing outside his motel room.
Four thousand National Guard troops were ordered into Memphis by Gov. Buford Ellington after Dr. King’s death. A curfew was imposed on the city of 550,000 inhabitants, about 40 per cent of them Negro.
July 21, 1969 – First moon walk
- Journal Gazette file
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) – Two Americans landed and walked on the moon Sunday, the first human beings on its alien soil. They planted their nation’s flag and talked to their President on earth by radio-telephone. Millions on their home planet 240,000 miles away watched on television as they saluted the flag, and scouted the lunar surface.
Aug. 9, 1974 – President Nixon's resignation
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON (UPI) – President Nixon, acknowledging Watergate had destroyed him politically, announced Thursday night he would “put the interest of America first” and resign Friday in favor of Gerald R. Ford.
Jan. 28, 1978 – Blizzard of '78
- Journal Gazette file
As snow and winds died down Friday, the attention of many local officials turned to Fort Wayne food and fuel supplies, to transportation difficulties and to tiring workers.
Of course, the major goal remained the tedious and exhausting chore of digging the city out from under 17 inches of snow that lay like a heavy velvet blanket over Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.
Jan. 21, 1981 – Hostages return from Iran
- Journal Gazette file
The two hospital planes carrying the 52 released American hostages touched down at Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany at 6:45 a.m. – 12:45 a.m. EST – today.
Laughing, crying and seeming to not quite believe it, the hostages flew to freedom, their liberty bought with $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets in the final hours of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
March 15, 1982 – Flood forces 3,300 from homes
- Journal Gazette file
Gov. Robert D. Orr Sunday night declared Fort Wayne and Allen County a disaster area as the worst flood in 69 years forced as many as 3,300 people from their homes and caused millions of dollars in damage.
July 16, 1983 – International Harvester's shutdown
- Journal Gazette file
Clete Schmidt of Rockford, Ohio, climbed in the cab of the green, Model 4200 International Harvester truck at about 2:40 Friday afternoon on the B Line of the Fort Wayne IH plant.
He started the engine. He blew the air horn, tested the lights and brakes, and blew the horn again before driving it off the line.
It’s the standard procedure for finishing a truck at the Fort Wayne Harvester works. But it wasn’t a standard day.
Jan. 18, 1984 – Suspected killer's suicide
- Journal Gazette file
Calvin D. Perry III was found dead in his Allen County Jail cell Tuesday morning about 15 hours after he was charged with a triple slaying.
Perry, also known as Calvin Corey, hanged himself from his cell between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m., said Allen County Coroner Dr. Roland C. Ahlbrand. The suicide came days after Perry was moved from a first-floor, separate cell to a third-floor cellblock, where he was less visible to guards.
Sept. 1, 1984 – GM's choice for truck plant
- Journal Gazette file
General Motors Corp. ended the suspense Friday morning.
The giant automaker will begin construction of a $500 million pickup assembly plant in southwest Allen County within a month, with production expected in about two years. The plant will employ about 3,000 on two shifts.
Jan. 29, 1986 – The Challenger disaster
- Journal Gazette file
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Challenger blew apart shortly after liftoff Tuesday, killing all seven crew members, including a schoolteacher chosen to become the first private American citizen to venture into space.
Aug. 17, 1988 – Surprising choice for running mate
- Journal Gazette file
NEW ORLEANS – It’s Bush and Quayle in ’88.
George Bush, who said several weeks ago his choice for a running mate on the Republican ticket would be a surprise, provided just that Tuesday as he picked Dan Quayle, Indiana’s junior senator, for the No. 2 spot.
And nobody, it seemed, was more surprised at the choice than the Indiana delegates to the GOP national convention, who heard the news Tuesday afternoon.
April 20, 1993 – Inferno at cult's compound
- Journal Gazette file
WACO, Texas – In a fiery ending as apocalyptic as the prophecies he issued, religious cult leader David Koresh and scores of his followers were immolated within the walls of his Texas prairie compound Monday morning in a blaze that his followers reportedly set after federal agents smashed into the building with an armored vehicle.
Sept. 3, 1993 – Fire destroys historic church
- Journal Gazette file
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, a historic landmark that has graced downtown Fort Wayne for more than a century, lies in ruins this morning. Fire roared through the church at Lafayette Street and Jefferson Boulevard during a driving rainstorm Thursday.
Chimes from another church echoed through the downtown near 4 p.m.– just before the top of St. Mary’s 237-foot steeple crashed to the ground.
April 20, 1995 – Oklahoma City bombing
- Journal Gazette file
OKLAHOMA CITY – A half-ton car bomb blew away nearly half of a nine-story federal building Wednesday in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 31 people. The dead included at least 12 children.
More than 300 people were missing and more than 200 were injured, authorities said.
Some of the children had just been dropped off by their parents at a child-care center.
Aug. 31, 1997 – Massive tire fire; death of Diana
- Journal Gazette file
A fire at a warehouse holding up to 600,000 tires Saturday led Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke to declare an emergency, triggering the evacuation of two nearby apartment complexes, some homes and city police headquarters.
♦ ♦ ♦
PARIS – Britain’s Princess Diana, who had been struggling to build a new public and private life after her turbulent divorce, was killed Sunday Paris time along with her companion, Dodi Fayed, in a car crash as their Mercedes was being pursued by photographers.
Nov. 13, 1998 – Lincoln moves executives out of city
- Journal Gazette file
Lincoln National Corp. said Thursday it will move its headquarters from Fort Wayne to the Philadelphia area by the middle of next year.
While only 60 jobs of the company's Fort Wayne 3,700-member workforce are affected by the relocation, the move nevertheless strips the city's business community of some of its most powerful corporate decision-makers and ends an era of locally based management that began nearly a century ago.
Sept. 11, 2000 – Legendary IU coach's dismissal
- Journal Gazette file
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University president Myles Brand announced Sunday that he has fired basketball coach Bob Knight. Knight was in Canada on a fishing trip over the weekend and returned to Bloomington late Sunday, where he was expected to meet with the Hoosier players. Brand said he phoned Knight to inform him of the decision.
Sept. 11, 2001 – Sept. 11 attacks
- Journal Gazette file
Terrorists unleashed an astonishing air assault on America’s military and financial power centers Tuesday morning, hijacking four commercial jets and then crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania countryside.
March 20, 2003 – Bombing of Baghdad
- Journal Gazette file
BAGHDAD, Iraq – With thundering explosions over Baghdad, the United States launched a preliminary salvo at dawn today in what could become all-out war against Saddam Hussein in an attempt to drive him from office and disarm Iraq.
Sept. 11, 2007 – Newspapers' new press
- Journal Gazette file
Fort Wayne Newspapers heralded the company’s Technicolor future at the Monday ribbon cutting for its $35 million printing press building.
The press has the capability to print every page of The Journal Gazette or The News-Sentinel in color. It also will print faster and reproduce sharper images than the current press, said Michael J. Christman, publisher of The News-Sentinel and chief executive of Fort Wayne Newspapers.
Nov. 5, 2008 – Historic presidential election
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was elected the nation’s 44th president Tuesday, riding a reformist message of change and an inspirational exhortation of hope to become the first black man to ascend to the White House.
May 2, 2011 – Death of Osama bin Laden
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation in Pakistan led by the United States, President Obama said late Sunday.
Dec. 27, 2011 – Slaying of Aliahna Lemmon
- Journal Gazette file
The remains of 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon were found Monday, and the family friend with whom she had been staying while her mother recovered from the flu has been charged with murder in her death.
Sept. 26, 2012 – Myanmar dignitary's visit
- Journal Gazette file
Aung San Suu Kyi inspired cheers, chants and countless photographs during her public appearance Tuesday at Memorial Coliseum.
Many of the estimated 5,000 spectators were refugees and immigrants who fled Myanmar, formerly called Burma, and the military regime that had kept democracy activist Suu Kyi on house arrest for most of the past two decades.
Dec. 15, 2012 – Newton school massacre
- Journal Gazette file
NEWTOWN, Conn. – A man killed his mother at their home and then opened fire Friday inside the elementary school where she taught, massacring 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in fear to the sound of gunshots reverberating through the building and screams echoing over the intercom.
June 27, 2015 – Same-sex marriage declared legal across U.S.
- Journal Gazette file
INDIANAPOLIS – Monica Wehrle and Harriet Miller got a heck of an anniversary present Friday when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states.
The longtime Fort Wayne couple were plaintiffs in one of the Indiana cases in which the state’s same-sex marriage ban was struck down. They married one year and one day before Friday’s ruling.
Nov. 3, 2016 – Cubs win first World Series since 1908
- Journal Gazette file
CLEVELAND – The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series championship since 1908 when Ben Zobrist hit a go-ahead double in the 10th inning, beating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in a thrilling Game 7 delayed by rain early Thursday.
Lovable losers for generations, the Cubs nearly let this one get away, too.
Nov. 10, 2016 – Donald Trump elected president
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – Emboldened Republicans claimed a mandate Wednesday for President-elect Donald Trump after his astonishing election triumph, and an emotional Hillary Clinton told crestfallen supporters the GOP victor deserved a “chance to lead.” President Barack Obama pledged a smooth transition of power.
July 16, 2018 – Arrest in Tinsley case
- Journal Gazette file
Allen County prosecutors announced the arrest of John D. Miller, 59, of Grabill, in the 1988 death of 8-year-old April Tinsley.
It was the first arrest in a case that received attention from national media outlets, stretched from the 20th into the 21st century and featured dozens of investigators from the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police and other law enforcement agencies.
Nov. 6, 2019 – Henry's re-election makes history
- Journal Gazette file
In his biggest victory since 2007, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry was elected to another four-year term Tuesday, making him the only mayor in city history to be elected to four consecutive terms in office.
March 24, 2020 – Stay-at-home order issued for Indiana
- Journal Gazette file
INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Eric Holcomb played on patriotism and duty Monday as he asked Hoosiers to hunker down and issued a stay-at-home order that begins Wednesday.
Holcomb stressed that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise and hospitals are becoming overrun.
May 30, 2020 – Protests over death of George Floyd
- Journal Gazette file
A Friday evening demonstration near the Allen County Courthouse began peacefully but turned potentially unsafe after Fort Wayne police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The demonstration started at 5 p.m. and was initially scheduled to go until 8 p.m. But crowds were still gathered after 9:30 p.m., with some pledging to remain through the night if necessary to express their concerns about Monday’s death of a black man Minneapolis police were restraining.
Jan. 7, 2021 – Protestors storm U.S. Capitol
- Journal Gazette file
WASHINGTON – A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.
July 3, 2021 – Komets win Kelly Cup
- Journal Gazette file
The season that almost never happened ended in the best possible way – with the Komets winning the Kelly Cup.
They cemented the championship with a 2-1 victory Friday night over the South Carolina Stingrays in front of a sellout crowd of 10,477 at Memorial Coliseum.
Oct. 30, 2022 – Examining diversity in schools
- Journal Gazette file
Subject Matters: Diversity in Schools took an in-depth look at the changes, challenges, occasional tensions and opportunities that come with increasingly diverse student populations.
The project, supported by a grant from the Education Writers Association, began Oct. 30, 2022, and continued on Sundays through November.
The first story in the series took a look at the changing student demographics at Allen County's four school districts since 2007. The series included a look at how diversity and inclusion is being handled in Bloomington, Indiana, and along with more than half a dozen other news stories by Education Reporter Ashley Sloboda, The Journal Gazette invited high school students to write essays. Nearly 80 students responded and cash prizes of nearly $1,000 in total went to the top four, as determined by a panel of judges.
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