Author: StrangeAgo
Dances, Pilón, and the “Evil Eye”: Everyday Life on the Texas–Mexico Border, c. 1900–1923
On the lower Rio Grande in the early 20th century, Mexican and Mexican-American families kept close to traditions brought north long before the railroad and…
The Old-World Ways of Gillespie County’s German Texans
Set in the Texas Hill Country, Fredericksburg grew from a mid-1840s German settlement into a town where old customs met a changing frontier. By the…
Cowboy Dances: How the Plains Threw a Party
Before highways, neon dance halls, and coin-operated jukeboxes, the rural West made its own fun. A cowboy dance was not a ticketed event with posters…
Old World Lore of Foundation Sacrifices
Across Europe and well beyond, builders once believed that a structure needed more than timber and stone. It needed a guardian. To make a new…
The History of March: The Month of Mars
March, once the first month of the year in the Roman calendar, is named for Mars, the powerful Roman god of war. As the season…
“Looney Gas”: The Poisoned Promise of Leaded Gasoline
In 1924, a group of workers at the Standard Oil refinery in Bayway, New Jersey, began to suffer bizarre and terrifying symptoms. They twitched uncontrollably,…
Eva Dugan’s Final Drop: The Hanging That Changed Arizona
In the dark early hours of February 21, 1930, Eva Dugan stepped onto the gallows at Arizona State Prison in Florence. Composed and defiant, she…
The History of February: The Month of Purification and Ancient Myths
February, though today known as the second month of the year, was originally the last month of the Roman calendar. Its name comes from the…
Devoured by Wolves: True and Terrifying Historical Accounts
In the days before modern infrastructure and wildlife management, lone travelers and remote families were vulnerable to nature’s harshest predators, including the wolf. While these…
“The Trap Was Sprung”: Eyewitness Accounts from the Gallows, 1850–1897
Over a hundred years ago, newspapers reported executions with unsettling detail. These were not brief mentions or sanitized blurbs; they were vivid, haunting descriptions meant…
