Portal:History
The History Portal
Historia by Nikolaos Gyzis
History (derived from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historía) 'inquiry; knowledge acquired by investigation') is the systematic study and documentation of human past. History is an academic discipline which uses a narrative to describe, examine, question, and analyze past events, and investigate their patterns of cause and effect. Historians debate which narrative best explains an event, as well as the significance of different causes and effects. Historians debate the nature of history as an end in itself, and its usefulness in giving perspective on the problems of the present.
The period of events before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of these events. Historians seek knowledge of the past using historical sources such as written documents, oral accounts or traditional oral histories, art and material artifacts, and ecological markers. History is incomplete and still has debatable mysteries.
Stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources (such as the tales surrounding King Arthur), are usually classified as cultural heritage or legends. History differs from myth in that it is supported by verifiable evidence. However, ancient cultural influences have helped create variant interpretations of the nature of history, which have evolved over the centuries and continue to change today. The modern study of history is wide-ranging, and includes the study of specific regions and certain topical or thematic elements of historical investigation. History is taught as a part of primary and secondary education, and the academic study of history is a major discipline in universities.
Herodotus, a 5th-century BCE Greek historian, is often considered the "father of history", as one of the first historians in the Western tradition, though he has been criticized as the "father of lies". Along with his contemporary Thucydides, he helped form the foundations for the modern study of past events and societies. Their works continue to be read today, and the gap between the culture-focused Herodotus and the military-focused Thucydides remains a point of contention or approach in modern historical writing. In East Asia a state chronicle, the Spring and Autumn Annals, was reputed to date from as early as 722 BCE, though only 2nd-century BCE texts have survived. The title "father of history" has also been attributed, in their respective societies, to Sima Qian and Ibn Khaldun. (Full article...)
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- ... that during the early-access period of Hogwarts Legacy, the game set a new record on Twitch with the largest number of concurrent viewers for a single-player game in history?
- ... that American Colossus, a history book that describes how a banker bailed out the U.S. government in 1895, was published around a time when the U.S. government bailed out banks?
- ... that Narita Viliamu Tahega has won 38 medals in international weightlifting competitions, the most in the history of Niue athletics?
- ... that Jake Bates's first in-game field goal was the second-longest in professional football history?
- ... that local regulation and law enforcement in Brighton's early history was carried out by the Society of Twelve, a beadle "in cocked hat and full regalia", and two "Old Charlies"?
- ... that Reconstructing Womanhood by Hazel Carby, about the history of American black women writers, was said to be a "landmark study" and "groundbreaking"?
Arthur Edward Jeune Collins (18 August 1885 – 11 November 1914) was an English cricketer and soldier. He held, for 116 years, the record of highest score in cricket: as a 13-year-old schoolboy, he scored 628 not out over four afternoons in June 1899. Collins's record-making innings drew a large crowd and increasing media interest; spectators at the Old Cliftonian match being played nearby were drawn away to watch the junior school house cricket match in which Collins was playing. Despite this achievement, Collins never played first-class cricket. Collins's 628 not out stood as the record score until January 2016 when an Indian boy, Pranav Dhanawade, scored 1009 in a single innings.
Collins joined the British Army in 1902 and studied at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, before becoming an officer in the Royal Engineers. He served in France during the First World War, where he was killed in action in 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres. Collins had been mentioned in despatches and also represented the Royal Military Academy at cricket and rugby union. (Full article...)
On this day
- 1763 – King George III issued a royal proclamation that forbade British settlement of much of newly acquired French territory in North America, reserving the land for indigenous peoples.
- 1849 – American writer Edgar Allan Poe died under mysterious circumstances at Washington Medical College four days after being found on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, in a delirious and incoherent state.
- 1914 – Japan captured Pohnpei from Germany, eventually leading to large-scale Japanese immigration to Micronesia.
- 1944 – The Holocaust: Sonderkommando work-unit members in Auschwitz concentration camp revolted upon learning that they were due to be killed; although a few managed to escape, most were massacred on the same day.
- 2006 – Anna Politkovskaya (pictured), a Russian journalist and human-rights activist, was assassinated in the elevator of her apartment block in Moscow.
- Guru Gobind Singh (d. 1708)
- Harold Geiger (b. 1884)
- Helmut Lent (d. 1944)
- Charlotte Perrelli (b. 1974)
Selected quote
There cannot be two suns in the sky, nor two emperors on the earth.
— Confucius, Chinese Sage and Philosopher
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More Did you know...
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- ... that in some archaic Greek alphabets, an Ε could look like a Β, a Β like a C, a Γ like an Ι, an Ι like a Σ, or a Σ like an Μ?
- ... that the Chinese government has published a list of sixty-four important cultural relics that are forbidden to be exhibited outside of China?
- ... that the 1886 novel Albertine expedited the abolition of public prostitution in Norway?
- ... that Carl Sagan worked with the US Air Force on detonating a nuclear device on the Moon?
- ... that Olympic gold medals have been made out of silver, jade, and glass?
- ... that in 1945 a Japanese battalion was rearmed to serve alongside the British 5th Parachute Brigade in the Far East?
- ... that Solomon was accidentally castrated as an infant?
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