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THE PHANTOM OF OXFORD
70 years ago today, Ron Tammen disappeared without a trace, this event remains an enduring local mystery here in southwest Ohio to this day. Ronald Henry Tammen, Jr. was a thriving college student residing in Fisher Hall at Miami University in the quaint college town of Oxford, Ohio. By all appearances he seemed like a…
Come down the rabbit hole with me.
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JAKE LEG BLUES
Back in 1930, at the height of Prohibition, Cincinnati was ground zero for the Jamaican ginger epidemic. Jamaican ginger elixir also known as ‘Jake’ was a commonly used tincture available in pharmacies across the United States. It contained potent amounts of alcohol and when used in small doses, was a safe pain reliever. However with…
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THE MYSTERY IS ‘A-FOOT’
A human foot that was identified through genetic testing via a crowdfunding effort has been connected to a missing woman. The remains that were found in December 2021 consisted of a single women’s size 8 New Balance shoe that contained a human foot. The foot was discovered near the mouth of the Elwha River in…
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MY BLOODY VALENTINE
When you hear the word mayhem what do you think about, general chaos, the Allstate guy, Tommy Lee’s tattoo – all of the above? The American legal system defines mayhem as the criminal act of disabling, disfiguring or cutting off or making useless one of the members (leg, arm, hand, penis, foot, eye) of another…
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AGAINST HIS WISHES
After 240 years a man known as the “Irish Giant” will finally be removed from a display he never wanted to be a part of in the first place. In life, Charles Byrne stood 7 foot, 7 inches – hence his nickname. His height was attributed to an undiagnosed tumor of the pituitary gland which…
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THE TRADITION OF THE RIDERLESS HORSE
The formality and haunting beauty of a funeral where a riderless horse, with the backwards facing boots in the stirrups, is being led along as part of the procession is always a striking image. I am often intrigued about the sources of these many traditions and find this one, in particular, very touching if not…
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“OH MURDER, I AM SHOT!”: THE TRAGIC DEATH OF CLEMENT VALLANDIGHAM
Sometimes when you frequent an establishment you can take its historical significance for granted. It is especially easy to do in a picturesque, small town with great architecture and an idyllic main street to enjoy. I am reminded of this when visiting The Golden Lamb. While I’ve not been recently, this place has been our…
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MERCEDES MCCAMBRIDGE: HELL BENT ON HONING HER CRAFT
Mercedes McCambridge was an Oscar winning actress of early radio, stage and later on in her career – film and television. The distinctive raspy voice that made her a star on the airwaves amazed audiences when she hit the big screen. Her ability to personalize a role and make it her own made the ordinary,…
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AVIAN INSPIRATION
“The Raven” was first published in the New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845, and would come to define the morbid brilliance of its author Edgar Allan Poe. You can read a bit about his inspiration for this work in ‘The Philosophy of Composition’, published in an 1846 edition of Graham’s Magazine. There Poe…
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A GARDEN TO DIE FOR
Humans have lived among poisonous plants since the dawn of time. That doesn’t mean we’ve adapted to this coexistence. From the poison hemlock that killed Socrates, to white snakeroot that was responsible for the death of Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks, poisonous plants have been responsible for countless human deaths throughout history. To this day…
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TED BUNDY EXECUTED
On this day back in 1989 Ted Bundy was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison. I lived in Tampa at the time and will not soon forget the media footage of countless revelers gathered across the street from the prison, holding signs, cheering and dancing. There was even an impromptu fireworks show. …
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GIRL IN THE ’57 CHEVY: THE MURDER OF LINDA PIERSON
It was a cool, fall, Wednesday night around 9:30 p.m. on November 16th, 1966, when Linda Susan Pierson was last seen cruising along Fairfield Avenue in the passenger seat of a 1957 Chevrolet. She was totally unaware that in a matter of hours she would be brutally raped and murdered. Linda was just eighteen and…
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KOPI LUWAK: WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP
Kopi luwak is the world’s most expensive coffee with prices coming in as high as $2600 a pound for wild collected beans. A cup of this joe can set you back 50 bucks here in the United States. It is made from partially digested coffee beans which have been eaten and later defecated by the…
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TREPHINATION FASCINATION
We’ve all heard the expression, “I need that like a hole in the head.” But did you know at one time in history a procedure that drilled a hole into one’s head was relatively common. It’s called a burr hole or trephination. A burr hole is created when an area is drilled or scraped through…
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DRINK FROM THE SKULL OF YOUR ENEMY, KINDA SORTA
With Labor Day and National Beer Lover’s Day being celebrated around the U.S. today, I’m sure many of you are relaxing by the pool, grilling some food and enjoying a cold one. How many of you are sipping your cold brew from a skull stein? Did you know that in the late 19th century skull…
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BLACK WIDOW BY PROXY: THE VIRGINIA GIBBS STORY
September 3rd happens to be my birthday. It also happens to be the date that – back in 1945 – local Cincinnati gal Virginia Gibbs chose to move forward with a rather elaborate plan to get rid of her abusive father once and for all. Unfortunately, in order to do this, another man had to…