Becky Little

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.

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

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.

Surprisingly little.

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

Uncertainty still surrounds every aspect of the 1932 image.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.'

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 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.

The tradition began during a time of national sorrow.

As Hitler bombed London, its citizens set up makeshift beds in rail cars, on escalators and even in tunnels to get a night's sleep.

Ancient people may have been crafting an archetypal villain.

Every president since Kennedy has carried the nuclear football, but none have ever used it.

Tiny hand stencils and other clues point to children’s participation in cave art.

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.

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.

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.

For some, the Great Depression began in the 1920s.