Short answers, pulled from the story.
Massillon was named after Jean-Baptiste Massillon, a French Catholic bishop, at the request of James Duncan's wife. Duncan, a New Hampshire native regarded as the city's founder, recorded the town plat on the 6th of December, 1826, along the east bank of the Tuscarawas River.
On the night of the 11th of July 1937, Massillon city police opened fire on striking workers near a Republic Steel plant, then raided a peaceful crowd at union headquarters using tear gas and gunfire joined by National Guardsmen. Three men were killed and hundreds were injured. Ohio Historical Marker 18-76 was erected in 2004 in front of Massillon City Hall to commemorate the event.
Stanley Macomber designed the open-web steel joist in 1921 while working at Massillon's Central Steel Company. He patented the design in 1924, founded the Massillon Steel Joist Co. in 1923, and was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011. The basic design is still in use today.
As of 2012, the Massillon Washington High School Tigers held an overall record of 837-249-35, the winningest record in Ohio high school football. The Tigers have accumulated 25 state AP championships and 9 national AP championships. On the 30th of November, 2023, they won the OHSAA Division II state championship, ending a 53-year drought.
Jacob S. Coxey, Sr. was a Massillon politician who twice led marches of unemployed men from Massillon to Washington, D.C., in 1894 and 1914, demanding that Congress fund job creation. He called the marches a "Petition in Boots." Coxey was elected mayor of Massillon in 1931.
The Immel Circus is a 100-square-foot miniature circus collection at the Massillon Museum containing 2,620 pieces, including thirty-six elephants, 186 horses, ninety-one wagons, seven tents, and 2,207 human figures. Most pieces were hand-carved by Dr. Robert Immel of Massillon using tools from his dental practice.