Portal:History
The History Portal
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 Jake Bates's first in-game field goal was the second-longest in professional football history?
- ... that the 1931 Valentine earthquake was the strongest earthquake in recorded history to hit Texas?
- ... that Mess L, a multipurpose building in Banjarbaru, Indonesia, was historically used to house Soviet workers?
- ... that throughout the history of education in Wales, schools have been held in monastic settlements, cathedrals, residential houses, marketplaces, barns, churches, and village halls?
- ... that the Victoria State Government has ordered 100 G-class trams, which is the largest domestic order in Australian history?
- ... that former Arizona Cardinals kicker Cedric Oglesby, one of the first African-American kickers in NFL history, received his chance to play when the team's previous kicker injured himself celebrating?
Israel the Grammarian (c. 895 – c. 965) was one of the leading European scholars of the mid-tenth century. In the 930s, he was at the court of King Æthelstan of England (r. 924–39). After Æthelstan's death, Israel successfully sought the patronage of Archbishop Rotbert of Trier and became tutor to Bruno, later the Archbishop of Cologne. In the late 940s Israel is recorded as a bishop, and at the end of his life he was a monk at the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Maximin in Trier.
Israel was an accomplished poet, a disciple of the ninth-century Irish philosopher John Scottus Eriugena and one of the few Western scholars of his time to understand Greek. He wrote theological and grammatical tracts, and commentaries on the works of other philosophers and theologians. (Full article...)On this day
- AD 96 – Nerva, the first of the "Five Good Emperors" of ancient Rome, came to power following the assassination of his predecessor Domitian.
- 1809 – The second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (interior pictured), opened in London after the original was destroyed by fire.
- 1875 – The Indianola hurricane dissipated over Mississippi after killing around eight hundred people in Texas.
- 1961 – An aircraft crashed near Ndola in Northern Rhodesia, resulting in the deaths of 16 people, including United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld.
- 1981 – While posing as an aristocrat, Belgian serial killer Nestor Pirotte murdered an antiques dealer in Brussels, for which crime he was sentenced to death.
- Trajan (b. AD 53)
- Liu Sheng (d. 958)
- Betty Cantor-Jackson (b. 1948)
- Jimi Hendrix (d. 1970)
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Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal, so are human beings equal to one another. No one has any right, nor any preference to claim over another. You are brothers.
— Muhammad, 7th century Islamic prophet
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- ... that the severed head of Julia Martha Thomas — murdered, boiled and dismembered by her maid in 1879 — was found next door to Sir David Attenborough's house in 2010?
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- ... that Tsar Alexander II of Russia had a special crystal bottle of Roederer champagne made for the Three Emperors Dinner in 1867 so that he could admire the bubbles?
- ... that the Gudea cylinders are the longest literary composition ever found in the Sumerian language?
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