Becky Little

Becky Little

Becky Little is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Bluesky.

Latest from this author

Pumpkin Spice

A key ingredient in the flavor was discovered on ancient pottery shards in Indonesia, revealing it has been around for a long, looooong time.

playing croquet on garden lawn, norfolk, england

The man who invented the Frisbee used to throw cake pans with his wife on the beach.

Newt Gingrich was offended that Clinton hadn't talked to him on Air Force One.

Head of a high priestess with inlaid eyes Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), area EH, south of gipar Akkadian period (ca. 2334–2154 BC) Alabaster, shell, lapis lazuli, and bitumen; 9.5 × 8 × 8.5 cm. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, USA, excavated 1926; B16228

A priestess named Enheduanna claimed authorship to poetry and other texts—sometimes in first-person—more than a millennium before Homer.

More than fifty years later, people are still trying to match the bizarre accident that was Woodstock ‘69.

Federal employees working on Social Security records, c. 1935.

And why they’re probably not going anywhere.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act on 14th August 1935. From left to right, Robert Lee Doughton, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Edwin E. Witte, Director of the President's Social Security Committee, with Senator Robert F. Wagner, co-author of the bill behind him, Senator Robert La Follette, Senator Augustine Lonergan, Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, Senator William H. King, Rep. David John Lewis, co-author of the bill and Senator Joseph F. Guffey.

Social Security differed from other New Deal programs in that it wasn’t a short-term solution to the Great Depression. It was a long-term investment.

A vintage Barbie and Midge with carrying case.

Barbie may be the star of the Mattel doll line, but she has had many friends along the way.

In 1929, Section 1325 criminalized undocumented immigration for the first time. Its aim was to decrease Mexican immigration.

The Hollywood 10 (and two lawyers).

Hollywood blacklisted these screenwriters, producers and directors for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Lotteries helped build libraries, roads and even Harvard.

State constitutions were rewritten to suppress the votes of newly enfranchised African Americans.

Some undid the work of their running mate, others bolstered their ticket.

6 World War II Innovations that Changed Everyday Life

Radar, computers, penicillin and more all came out of development during the Second World War.

9 New Deal Infrastructure Projects That Changed America, Lincoln Tunnel construction

The Hoover Dam, LaGuardia Airport and the Bay Bridge were all part of FDR's New Deal investment.

Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Ederle slathered herself in grease, wore a controversial two-piece bathing suit and ate chicken legs along the way.

NETHERLANDS-SCIENCE-HUMAN-NEANDERTHAL-MUSEUM

Our closest human relatives were shorter and stockier than us, and had no chin.

How Gerrymandering Began

Long before it got its name, Gerrymandering was already happening in the United States.

Why go to the trouble of tracking and killing an animal when a saber-tooth cat can do the job instead?

In 1931, a Commission of crime families began running New York City rackets, initiating an era of colorful nicknames and violent power struggles.

Gambino family crime boss Frank Cali’s murder is the first Mafia don assassination in New York City since John Gotti had “Big Paul” Castellano killed in 1985.

Dyatlov Pass incident

In February 1959, nine hikers were killed while trekking in the Ural Mountains. The Soviet government originally attributed a “compelling natural force” as the cause.

In 1900, newspapers and politicians claimed the doctor trying to stop the plague had made the whole thing up.

Lunch Atop A Skyscraper

Uncertainty still surrounds every aspect of the 1932 image.

Bigfoot

In 2019, the FBI released its four-decade-old file on Bigfoot including an analysis conducted on hair that allegedly belonged to the sasquatch. The results? Deer hair.

How Did Humans Evolve?

The story of human origins is complicated since our ancestors swapped genes (and probably skills).

Vaccines are so effective at fighting disease that sometimes it’s easy to forget their impact.

First-grade students at Public School 60 in Baltimore say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag in June 1955.

The pledge, as recited by U.S. schoolchildren, wasn’t standardized until World War II, and didn’t contain “under God” until 1954.

From Asia to the United States, 'eighth wonders' span the globe.

Flowers left outside the home of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy on N. Moore St. in New York City.

The son of the famous president died in the 1999 accident, along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette.

The concept of a third world war has been around for a long time—not as something that might happen, but something that <em>will</em>.

While the war raged overseas, soldiers and civilians worked furiously to protect the capital against rising waters.

How the Flu Became Endemic

Since the 1940s, the World Health Organization has worked with different countries to keep the flu endemic by identifying strains and watching for signs of a pandemic.

Congress gets a record number of women, The U.K. “brexits” and we commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Maurice Hilleman

By the time the virus reached the U.S., the country already had a vaccine ready.

Doctors, army officers, and reporters wear surgical gowns and masks at a hospital to observe Spanish influenza treatment of patients

Once it was over, no one wanted to talk about it.

If not for the former White House counsel, Nixon might never have resigned.

Think acronyms are a product of the digital era? Think again.

The Elephant Man

For over a century, the famously deformed 27-year-old’s final resting place was a mystery. One of his biographers believes she’s finally found his burial plot.

19th-century congressmen went to work carrying pistols and bowie knives—and sometimes used them on colleagues.

Fugitive Slave

Unlike the northern free states, Mexico didn’t agree to return people who had fled slavery.

Esther Peterson

Esther Eggertsen Peterson was a driving force behind the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and also pushed for better child care resources.

A staged photo of a U.S. postman carrying a baby boy along with his letters, circa 1900s. (Credit: Vintage Images/Getty Images)

In the early days of U.S. parcel service, there weren’t clear guidelines about what you could and couldn’t mail.

Calvin Coolidge and Native American group at White House

Native Americans won U.S. citizenship in 1924, but the struggle for voting rights stretched on for much longer.

After the election went to the House of Representatives, an anonymous letter accused two of the candidates of making a 'corrupt bargain.'

Tom Torlino

Once they returned home, Native American children struggled to relate to their families after being taught that it was wrong to speak their language or practice their religion.

Freddie and Truus Oversteegen sometimes ambushed Nazi officers from their bicycles—and never revealed how many they had assassinated.

Augustus Caesar

Augustus told Romans he was the only one who could save Rome. And they believed him.

President Nixon's 'Honor America Day' featured the Rev. Billy Graham and Bob Hope in an Independence Day event that critics saw as a pro-Vietnam War rally.