Becky Little
Becky Little is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Bluesky.
Latest from this author
Latest from this author
The photo, captured by Franklin in 1952, is among the most significant in scientific history and lent vital clues to how DNA functions.
Political, religious and practical considerations all played a role.
Missionaries laid the foundation for communities and governance in the American frontier.
The statues were meant to be vivid and lifelike. They were covered in paint, decorated in wreaths and even scented with perfume.
A key ingredient in the flavor was discovered on ancient pottery shards in Indonesia, revealing it has been around for a long, looooong time.
Claims the Apollo 11 mission was staged began soon after astronauts first set foot on the moon in 1969.
In 1931, a Commission of crime families began running New York City rackets, initiating an era of colorful nicknames and violent power struggles.
After the assassination, King's family did not trust the findings of the FBI, which had harassed the civil rights leader while he was alive.
From Stalin's reign of terror to Gorbachev and glasnost, meet the eight leaders who presided over the USSR.
The tri-colored confection was designed to look like chicken feed and came out at a time when about half of Americans worked on farms.
Augustus told Romans he was the only one who could save Rome. And they believed him.
The controversial shroud that is claimed to have once covered the body of Jesus first appeared in the 1350s and is now available for online viewing.
The latest analysis adds to a centuries-long debate over the shroud’s authenticity.
Freddie and Truus Oversteegen sometimes ambushed Nazi officers from their bicycles—and never revealed how many they had assassinated.
For some, the Great Depression began in the 1920s.
Rodney Alcala won a 1978 episode of 'The Dating Game' in the middle of a murder spree.
Newt Gingrich was offended that Clinton hadn't talked to him on Air Force One.
NASA created simulations that mimicked everything from the moon’s gravity to its landscape.
The shocking disaster delayed the speech for one week.
The league was supposed to be temporary, but went on for 12 seasons.
The writer behind the play, which was made into a Cary Grant film, had studied the records of convicted murderer Amy Archer-Gilligan.
People were outraged when teenage boys vandalized towns on October 31, 1933—so they found a way to keep them inside.
At its peak, Rome stretched over much of Europe and the Middle East.
After President Nixon refused to release his secret tapes, Congress ruled that they were the government’s property, not his.
Fear of Mexican immigrants led to the criminalization of marijuana.
Dissent at or inside the statue began with its unveiling in 1886.
The cult leader and mass murderer got parole hearings until the very end.
The United States has recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital since December 2017—despite a dueling claim from Palestine.
Was Dancer’s Image disqualified because his owner supported the civil rights movement?
The vehicles could deliver supplies from ship to shore, but couldn’t cut it in rough waters.
It killed 100,000 people in the direct impact. But it led to tens of millions more deaths later.
Autopilot has existed since 1912. But some experts worry that too much plane automation introduces danger.
For a long time, it wasn't possible to immigrate illegally to the U.S.
A conspiracy theory emerged during the Red Scare, blaming “the Bolsheviki” for protests and violence.
Federally-subsidized childcare centers took care of an estimated 550,000 to 600,000 children while their mothers worked wartime jobs.
Since the 2015 massacre at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church, 37 schools honoring Confederate icons have changed their names, while about 100 others haven’t.
After the Revolutionary War, a series of revolutions took place throughout Europe and the Americas.
White House staff reportedly said that Reagan was inattentive and acting strangely, but his chief of staff dismissed the possibility of trying to remove him.
Most people complied, but some resisted (or poked holes in their masks to smoke).
Once it was over, no one wanted to talk about it.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh writes in his new book that Pat Nixon visited the emergency room and alleged that her husband had hit her shortly after Nixon resigned.
Thousands of Mexican Americans joined the Confederacy—but even more joined the Union.
Native Americans won U.S. citizenship in 1924, but the struggle for voting rights stretched on for much longer.
Voter turnout rates peaked in the 1870s and decreased in the 20th century.
Inaccurate coverage of the 1968 protest gave rise to the ‘bra-burner’ stereotype used to malign women’s rights activism.
Fifty years later, people are still trying to match the bizarre accident that was Woodstock ‘69.
It wasn't until the mid-19th century that doctors realized going straight from an autopsy to the maternity ward was not a good idea.
100 years ago, the KKK began terrorizing Catholic immigrants in the name of Prohibition.
The first president’s tresses were a keepsake for the family of Alexander Hamilton.
By the time Thanksgiving became an official U.S. holiday in 1863, wild turkeys had nearly disappeared. But Depression-era shifts in land use helped the animals rebound.
The now-debunked 'born criminal' theory was highly influential in criminology circles.
If not for the former White House counsel, Nixon might never have resigned.
As a young man, Lincoln openly admitted to his lack of faith. As a politician, he spoke about God but refused to say he was a Christian.
Here's why D.C. license plates say 'End Taxation Without Representation.'
In 1900, newspapers and politicians claimed the doctor trying to stop the plague had made the whole thing up.
It was in HISTORY’s series 'Unidentified' that the active-duty Navy pilots who encountered the crafts first came forward to share their stories.
Amid reports of flying saucers swarming the nation's capital, the intelligence agency realized it needed a P.R. strategy.
Is it time to alter or abolish the Jones Act?
During the first half of the 20th century, people used a variety of measures—including gargles, masks and signs—to try and avoid catching the flu.
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.
By the time the virus reached the U.S., the country already had a vaccine ready.
Nations fighting in World War I were reluctant to report their flu outbreaks.
Cartoons, PSAs and streetcar signs urged Americans to follow health guidelines to keep the pandemic from spreading.
The highly contagious disease dates to ancient times and spread easily in households and classrooms—until the development of a vaccine.
Computer programming used to be a ‘pink ghetto’—so it was underpaid and undervalued.
Think 'oppo’ research is something new? Think again.
In the 19th century there were no primaries—candidates were selected during each party’s convention.
The bungled crime featured an affair, a murder and a planned insurance scam.
For over 1,000 years, European fugitives found asylum in churches.
As colonists grew increasingly defiant, the British government responded with punishing measures that only angered them more.
On that infamous December day in 1941, Japan also attacked Guam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya.
Scientists are using the legend to draw attention to their research project. And why not?
The idea of listing the vices began in the fourth century.
During the 20th century, Americans’ lifespans tended to rise and fall depending on the economy—but not in the way you might think.
Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is primarily celebrated by followers of the Hindu, Sikh and Jain faiths.
Melita Norwood was a great-grandmother when her espionage was finally revealed.
The constitutional framers may have viewed Indigenous people of the Iroquois Confederacy as inferior, but that didn't stop them from admiring their federalist principles.
Until 1989, Russians claimed they were not trying to reach the Moon first and that the U.S. was in “a one-nation race."
A combination of internal and international resistance to apartheid helped dismantle the white supremacist regime.
Presidents dating back to George Washington have faced opposition to their nominees for the nation's highest court.
After North Korea’s bizarre bid to co-host the 1988 Olympics, it tried to disrupt them with a bomb.
In 1930, raising tariffs across the board hurt the U.S. economy.
These women reshaped the fight against slavery by suing for freedom, rescuing the enslaved and teaching the newly freed.
Political campaign slogans haven't always caught on. In fact, some have proven odd or embarrassing.
Evidence of warming temperatures have been detected as early as the 1830s.
The first African American to seek the nomination of a major party competed against George Wallace, the face of Southern segregation.
Women inventors are behind a wide range of key innovations, from Kevlar to dishwashers to better life rafts.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's vice president was an anti-labor conservative who clashed with the president over federal spending and FDR's decision to run for a third term.
On March 14, 1951, Albert Einstein was celebrating his 72nd birthday at the Princeton Club in New Jersey when a group of photographers asked to take a photo.
Black Americans could temporarily escape the Jim Crow laws at early vacation resorts that catered only to them.
General Pinochet’s agents hunted down Chile’s former Ambassador in the first state-sponsored international terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
The president and Congress clashed over welfare, crime, defense spending and whether to fund Contras in Nicaragua.
Scientists now believe the plague spread too fast for rats to be the culprits.
The discovery of a 4,500-year-old ramp offers clues about Egyptians' technological knowledge.
Why go to the trouble of tracking and killing an animal when a saber-tooth cat can do the job instead?
Rumors of ghosts haunt U.S. cemeteries, hotels and even the White House.
The 1990 protest demonstrated the barriers that inaccessible buildings create for people with disabilities.
As survivors of history’s only atomic bomb attacks, they made it a mission to warn the world about the horrors of nuclear war.
