Until very recently, the little town of Columbus, New Mexico, had just one modest clam to fame: on March 11, 1916, it was raided by Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa.
Villa's men sacked the town, causing several deaths and considerable destruction. The band then hightailed it back across the border, ahead of a punitive expedition sent by US President Woodrow Wilson.
Wilson's 10,000 troops failed to nab Villa, and the border town slumbered away the century beneath the New Mexico sun.