Portal:History

Introduction

History (from Greek ἱστορία, historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation") is the study of the past as it is described in written documents. Events occurring before written record are considered prehistory. It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these events. Scholars who write about history are called historians.
History can also refer to the academic discipline which uses a narrative to examine and analyse a sequence of past events, and objectively determine the patterns of cause and effect that determine them. Historians sometimes debate the nature of history and its usefulness by discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the present.
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, because they do not show the "disinterested investigation" required of the discipline of history. Herodotus, a 5th-century BC Greek historian is considered within the Western tradition to be the "father of history", and, along with his contemporary Thucydides, helped form the foundations for the modern study of human history. 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 known to be compiled from as early as 722 BC although only 2nd-century BC texts have survived.
Ancient influences have helped spawn 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 the study of certain topical or thematical elements of historical investigation. Often history is taught as part of primary and secondary education, and the academic study of history is a major discipline in university studies.
Selected periods of history
Selected images
Selected histories by subject
Selected historical figures
Selected historical disciplines
Did you know...
- ... that the second reused orbital rocket in history, Falcon 9 booster B1029, was "extra toasty" upon coming back from the edge of space on June 23, 2017, to land on a drone ship?
- ... that the recently rediscovered and restored 1898 short film Something Good – Negro Kiss counters racist caricatures?
- ... that prime numbers have been studied since the time of the ancient Greeks, but had few real-world applications until the invention of public-key cryptography in the 1970s?
- ... that in 2006, footballer Steve Flack scored the fastest hat-trick in Exeter City's history?
- ... that the 2014 Carlton Complex Fire was the largest wildfire in Washington state history up to that time?
- ... that Washington Huskies basketball player Matisse Thybulle was the first in the school's history to be named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year?
Need help?
Do you have a question about History that you can't find the answer to?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
Get involved
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's History-related articles, see WikiProject History.
Selected historical concepts
On this day
- 1437 – King James I of Scotland was murdered at Perth in a failed coup by his uncle and former ally Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl.
- 1828 – The inaugural issue of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first newspaper in a Native American language, was published.
- 1919 – Bavarian socialist Kurt Eisner (pictured), who had organized the German Revolution that overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy and established Bavaria as a republic, was assassinated.
- 1929 – In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops.
- 1973 – After accidentally having strayed into Israeli-occupied airspace, Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was shot down by two Israeli fighter aircraft, killing 108.
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke (b. 1705) · Mary Edwards Walker (d. 1919) · Howard Florey (d. 1968)
History in the making...
- 20 February 2019 – Political appointments by Donald Trump
- U.S. President Donald Trump plans to nominate Jeffrey A. Rosen to replace Rod Rosenstein as Deputy Attorney General. (CBS News)
- 19 February 2019 – Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present)
- Sixteen militants are killed in two different raids in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. A number of weapons and explosives are also found in the raids. (Al Jazeera)
- 19 February 2019 –
- A house fire in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, kills seven children from a Syrian family. (BBC)
- 19 February 2019 – 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Vermont Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders announces on Vermont Public Radio that he is running for President of the United States as a Democrat in 2020. (NPR)
- 18 February 2019 – Kashmir conflict
- Two reported Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, one civilian and four Indian soldiers are killed in a skirmish in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir as police search for suspects in Thursday's suicide attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police. (arynews)
- 18 February 2019 –
- A suicide bombing kills the bomber and three police officers in Cairo, Egypt. Two others are injured. (Wall Street Journal)
- 18 February 2019 – List of mass shootings in the United States in 2019
- Four people are killed in a shooting at a home in Solon Township, Kent County, Michigan, United States, with police investigating it as a possible murder–suicide. (NBC News) (CBS News)
- 18 February 2019 – National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States
- Sixteen states sue U.S. President Donald Trump, calling his national emergency declaration made last week "unlawful and unconstitutional". (USA Today)
- 18 February 2019 – 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- In a speech, U.S. President Donald Trump urges the Venezuelan military to abandon Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or "lose everything". (Reuters)
- 18 February 2019 –
- United States Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is reported to be stepping down from his position in mid-March. (Reuters), (Fox News)
- 17 February 2019 –
- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces the country's major political parties computer networks had been hacked by a "sophisticated state actor." (BBC)
- 17 February 2019 – 2019 Daytona 500
- Denny Hamlin wins the 2019 Daytona 500. It is his second win in the event, the first coming in 2016. (Fox News)
- 16 February 2019 – Sinai insurgency
- Militants attacked an army checkpoint in Sinai Peninsula killing and injuring 15. It is believed that 11 were killed but that has not been confirmed. Seven militants also died in the attack. (The National) (The Times of Israel)
- 16 February 2019 – Afghanistan War
- 32 Afghan border security troops are killed by a Taliban attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (The New York Times)
- 15 February 2019 – 2019 Kaduna State massacre
- 66 people were killed by gunmen in Nigeria's Kaduna State including 34 victims being either women or children. The attack happened one day before the scheduled election before it was delayed another week. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- 15 February 2019 – Amazon HQ2
- After announcing that it was canceling its New York City headquarters plans the day before, Amazon announces that it will keep its second headquarters in Virginia. (CNET)
- 15 February 2019 – Aurora, Illinois shooting
- Five people are dead and six others are injured during a mass shooting in Aurora, Illinois. The suspected shooter was later killed by police. (CBS Chicago)
- 15 February 2019 – Brumadinho dam disaster
- Eight Vale employees from Minas Gerais are arrested over alleged involvement in a dam collapse that killed at least 166 people. (Financial Times) (The Wall Street Journal)
- 15 February 2019 – United States–Mexico barrier, Trump wall
- U.S. President Donald Trump declares a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States. (Fox News)
- The American Civil Liberties Union and watchdog group Public Citizen announced they will file lawsuits challenging the legality of President Trump’s emergency declaration. (Time) (CBS News)
Suboutlines
History (timelines) – records of past events and the way things were. It is also a field responsible for the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about the past.
- History, by period (See also Timeline of world history)
- Prehistory – events occurring before recorded history (that is, before written records).
- Colorado prehistory –
- Prehistoric technology – technologies that emerged before recorded history (i.e., before the development of writing).
- Ancient history (timeline) – from ≈3350 BCE to ≈500 CE
- Ancient West
- Classical antiquity (timeline) – long period of cultural history in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the Greco-Roman world.
- Ancient Greece (timeline) – period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages (ca. 1100 BC) to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece. It was the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western civilization.
- Ancient Rome (timeline) – civilization that started on the Italian Peninsula and lasted from as early as the 10th century BC to the 5th century AD. Over centuries it shifted from a monarchy to a republic to an empire which dominated South-Western Europe, South-Eastern Europe/Balkans and the Mediterranean region.
- Classical architecture – architecture of classical antiquity, that is, ancient Greek architecture and the architecture of ancient Rome. It also refers to the style or styles of architecture influenced by those.
- Classical antiquity (timeline) – long period of cultural history in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the Greco-Roman world.
- Ancient East
- Ancient China – China from about 2070 to 221 BC, spanning the Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, Zhou Dynasy, the Spring and Autumn period, to the end of the Warring States period.
- Ancient Egypt – ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, along the lower reaches of the Nile River starting about 3150 BC, in what is now the modern country of Egypt.
- Ancient India – India as it existed from pre-historic times (c. 7000 BCE or earlier) to the start of the Middle Ages (c. 500 CE).
- Ancient West
- Middle Ages (Medieval history) (timeline) – historical period following the Iron Age, fully underway by the 5th century and lasting to the 15th century and preceding the early Modern Era. It is the middle period in a three-period division of history: Classic, Medieval, and Modern.
- Renaissance – cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. It encompassed a flowering of literature, science, art, religion, and politics, and gradual but widespread educational reform.
- Early modern history – from 1500 to 1899
- Modern history – since 1900.
- Globalization – progression towards the development of an integrated world community, from ancient times to the present
- Prehistory – events occurring before recorded history (that is, before written records).
- History, by region
- History of South Asia (timeline)
- History of Western civilization
- History of existing states
- United States history (timeline)
- History of U.S. states
- History of Alabama • History of Alaska • History of Arizona • History of Arkansas • History of California • History of Colorado • History of Connecticut • History of Delaware • History of Florida • History of Georgia • History of Hawaii • History of Idaho • History of Illinois • History of Indiana • History of Iowa • History of Kansas • History of Kentucky • History of Louisiana • History of Maine • History of Maryland • History of Massachusetts • History of Michigan • History of Minnesota • History of Mississippi • History of Missouri • History of Montana • History of Nebraska • History of Nevada • History of New Hampshire • History of New Jersey • History of New Mexico • History of New York • History of North Carolina • History of North Dakota • History of Ohio • History of Oklahoma • History of Oregon • History of Pennsylvania • History of Rhode Island • History of South Carolina • History of South Dakota • History of Tennessee • History of Texas • History of Utah • History of Vermont • History of Virginia • History of Washington • History of West Virginia • History of Wisconsin • History of Wyoming
- History of U.S. states
- United States history (timeline)
- Historical states
- Ancient Egypt – ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, along the lower reaches of the Nile River starting about 3150 BC, in what is now the modern country of Egypt.
- Ancient Rome (timeline) – civilization that started on the Italian Peninsula and lasted from as early as the 10th century BC to the 5th century AD. Over centuries it shifted from a monarchy to a republic to an empire which dominated South-Western Europe, South-Eastern Europe/Balkans and the Mediterranean region.
- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire – six-volume work authored by the celebrated English historian Edward Gibbon (1737–1794).
- Byzantine Empire (timeline) – the Eastern Roman Empire that existed throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania by its inhabitants and neighbors, the empire was centered on the capital of Constantinople and was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State. Byzantium, however, was distinct from ancient Rome, in that it was Christian and predominantly Greek-speaking, being influenced by Greek, as opposed to Latin, culture.
- Ottoman Empire (timeline) – historical Muslim empire, also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey. At its zenith in the second half of the 16th century it controlled Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa.
- Soviet Union – socialist state on the Eurasian continent that existed from 1922 to 1991. A union of multiple subnational Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The Soviet Union was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital. It was a major ally during World War II, a main participant in the Cold War, and it grew in power to become one of the world's two superpowers (the other being the United States). The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
- History, by subject
- History, by field
- Historical sciences – fields dealing with history
- History of terrorism
- Wars
- American Civil War – civil war in the United States of America from 1861–1865 in which 11 Southern slave states tried to secede.
- World War I (timeline) – major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers,[1] which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centred on the Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (originally centred on the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy).
- World War II (timeline) – global military conflict from 1939 to 1945, which involved most of the world's nations forming two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread, largest, most costly, and deadliest war in history.
- Cold War (timeline) – period of political and military tension between the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, accentuated by the rivalry between the two superpowers at that time: America (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.).
- Vietnam War – Cold War era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations.
Subtopics
History by region – Ancient Egypt • Ancient Greece • Ancient Rome • History of China • History of the Middle East • History of Mesoamerica • History of India
- History by continent – Africa • The Americas • Antarctica • Asia • Australia • Eurasia • Europe • North America • Oceania • South America
List of time periods – Prehistory • Protohistory • Ancient history • Modern history • Future history
- The Ages of history – Stone Age • Copper Age • Bronze Age • Iron Age • Dark Ages (historiography) • Middle Ages • Age of Discovery • Renaissance • Age of Enlightenment • Industrial Age • Space Age • Information Age
History by subject
- History of science – Theories/sociology • Historiography • Mathematics • Pseudoscience • Scientific method
- History of science by era – In early cultures • In Classical Antiquity • In the Middle Ages • In the Renaissance • Scientific Revolution
Recognized content
Featured articles
- Æthelstan A
- Herman Vandenburg Ames
- Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany
- Balfour Declaration
- Battle of Red Cliffs
- Birmingham campaign
- Empire of Brazil
- Byzantine Empire
- Pedro Álvares Cabral
- Court of Chancery
- Cross of Gold speech
- C. R. M. F. Cruttwell
- W. E. B. Du Bois
- Edmund Evans
- Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
- Free State of Galveston
- Halifax Explosion
- Hanged, drawn and quartered
- History of American football
- History of Baltimore City College
- History of biology
- History of Sheffield
- History of Arsenal F.C. (1886–1966)
- History of Aston Villa F.C. (1961–present)
- History of Bradford City A.F.C.
- History of Gibraltar
- History of Gillingham F.C.
- History of Stoke City F.C.
- History of US science fiction and fantasy magazines to 1950
- History of the British farthing
- History of the New York Yankees
- Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)
- Hoysala Empire
- Inaugural games of the Flavian Amphitheatre
- Indigenous people of the Everglades region
- Jarrow March
- LaRouche criminal trials
- Mantra-Rock Dance
- Manzanar
- Maya civilization
- Battle of Midway
- Parliament of 1327
- Peasants' Revolt
- Peterloo Massacre
- President Truman's relief of General Douglas MacArthur
- Rosewood massacre
- The Slave Community
- Unification of Germany
- Wage reform in the Soviet Union, 1956–1962
- William Jennings Bryan 1896 presidential campaign
- William McKinley 1896 presidential campaign
- Zhou Tong (archer)
- Zong massacre
Good articles
- 102nd Intelligence Wing
- 1982 Iranian diplomats kidnapping
- Abir Congo Company
- Agnosticism
- Ambrose Channel pilot cable
- Anarchism in Cuba
- Anuradhapura Kingdom
- Architecture in early modern Scotland
- Aztecs
- Azusa Street Revival
- Barry (dog)
- Bastille
- Belgium in "the long nineteenth century"
- Bodyguard of Lies
- John Wilkes Booth
- Robert Napuʻuako Boyd
- Bristol Bus Boycott
- Letitia Woods Brown
- Burning of women in England
- Bury St Edmunds witch trials
- Bury the Chains
- Treaty of Butre
- Moro River Campaign
- Lydia Canaan
- José María Caro Martínez
- Catholic Church
- The Christian Manifesto
- Christmas in the post-war United States
- Cold War
- Constantine VIII
- Cèllere Codex
- Demographic history of Scotland
- Demolition of al-Baqi
- Dispute between Darnhall and Vale Royal Abbey
- Dreamtime (book)
- Early thermal weapons
- Eastcote House Gardens
- Economy of Scotland in the early modern period
- Education and Democracy: The Meaning of Alexander Meiklejohn
- Education in Medieval Scotland
- Education in early modern Scotland
- Edward of Angoulême
- Ely and Littleport riots of 1816
- Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945
- Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency
- English Poor Laws
- Family in early modern Scotland
- Federation of Stoke-on-Trent
- Fifty Years of Freedom
- Fortress of Humaitá
- Fujiwara no Teika
- Gadsden Purchase
- Geography of Scotland in the Middle Ages
- Geography of Scotland in the early modern era
- Lionel Gilbert
- Glorious Revolution in Scotland
- Government in early modern Scotland
- Government in medieval Scotland
- Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
- Greater Germanic Reich
- HIAG
- Ha' K'in Xook
- Hampton National Historic Site
- Hindu–German Conspiracy
- History of agriculture
- History of Bombay under Portuguese rule (1534–1661)
- History of Cornell University
- History of Gaza
- History of Hertfordshire
- History of Indiana
- History of malaria
- History of Microsoft
- History of Philadelphia
- History of Pittsburgh
- History of poison
- History of private equity and venture capital
- History of Scotland
- History of Singapore
- History of the Galveston Bay Area
- History of the Song dynasty
- History of the Soviet Union (1964–82)
- History of the United Kingdom during the First World War
- History of Animals
- History of Aston Villa F.C. (1874–1961)
- History of Edinburgh Zoo
- History of Galveston, Texas
- History of Harvard Extension School
- History of KFC
- History of Lima
- History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
- History of Mumbai
- History of St. Louis
- History of Wat Phra Dhammakaya
- History of agriculture in Scotland
- History of aspirin
- History of cricket to 1725
- History of hip hop dance
- History of macroeconomic thought
- History of the Georgia Institute of Technology
- History of the Han dynasty
- Hitler's Generals on Trial
- Housing in Scotland
- I Ching
- Curtis P. Iaukea
- Ice trade
- Indigenous peoples in Canada
- Indo-Roman trade relations
- Itzam K'an Ahk II
- Janszoon voyage of 1605–06
- John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
- K'inich Yat Ahk II
- K'inich Yo'nal Ahk I
- Ernst Klink
- Legal history of cannabis in the United States
- Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
- Lisa the Iconoclast
- The Making of the English Landscape
- The Man-Eating Myth
- Manor Farm, Ruislip
- Maritime fur trade
- McMahon–Hussein Correspondence
- Meermin slave mutiny
- Middle Colonies
- Monte Testaccio
- Murrays' Mills
- Music in early modern Scotland
- National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933
- Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War
- Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad
- Nazi Germany
- Lynching of Laura and L. D. Nelson
- No Man Knows My History
- Nuova Cronica
- Ocean Village Marina, Gibraltar
- One Day in History
- Museum de Oude Wolden
- Paper Brigade
- Pax Mongolica
- Pied-Noir
- Karl Plagge
- Premiership of Gordon Brown
- Presidency of George Washington
- Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
- Child prostitution
- Edward William Purvis
- History of Randolph, Tennessee
- Renaissance
- Renaissance in Scotland
- Roman Empire
- Romanticism in Scotland
- Rose Street Club
- Gunther E. Rothenberg
- Royal intermarriage
- Felix Römer
- Scotland during the Roman Empire
- Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
- Scotland in the Middle Ages
- Scotland in the early modern period
- Scotland in the modern era
- Scotland under the Commonwealth
- Scottish religion in the eighteenth century
- Scottish religion in the seventeenth century
- Scottish society in the Middle Ages
- Scottish society in the early modern era
- Shays' Rebellion
- Silver
- Son of God (TV series)
- Spain in Our Hearts
- Spanish flu
- Spanish conquest of Honduras
- Jan Willem Spruyt
- Stanley plan
- David Starkey
- Stolen Childhood
- Stratford Dialectical and Radical Club
- Taoism
- Testaroli
- Texas oil boom
- Topaz War Relocation Center
- Leo Tornikios
- Trade route
- Treaty of Waitangi
- D. H. Turner
- Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands
- Wannsee Conference
- Warfare in early modern Scotland
- Wolfram Wette
- Rwandan Revolution
- Witch trials in early modern Scotland
- Women in early modern Scotland
- Women's March on Versailles
- Workhouse
- Wow! signal
- Wreck of the RMS Titanic
- Yang Shoujing
- Yo'nal Ahk III
Subportals
- History by period
- History by decade
- History by century
- History by era
- Prehistory
- Ancient history
- Middle Ages
- Renaissance
- Modern history
- History by region
- American Old West • Anglo-Saxon England • Austria-Hungary • British Empire • Bulgarian Empire • Imperial China • East Germany • European military history • German Empire • Canada • Holy Roman Empire • Indian independence movement • Khitan • Mesoamerica • Nazi Germany • New France • North America • Ottoman Empire • Russian Empire • Sasanian Empire • Soviet Union • Transylvania • Weimar Republic
- History by subject
- Crown of Aragon • Disasters • Heraldry • History of art • History of the Latter Day Saint movement • History of Science
- Mythology
- Sports
- Time
- War
- War of 1812 • American Revolutionary War • American Civil War • Ancient warfare • Arab–Israeli conflict • Cold War • Crusades • Italian Wars • Liberation War • Military history of France • Military history of Africa • Military history of the Ottoman Empire • Napoleonic Wars • September 11 attacks • Spanish American wars of independence • Syrian Civil War • World War I • World War II
Associated Wikimedia
This page is based on a Wikipedia article written by contributors (read/edit).
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.