Portal:History
The History Portal
Herodotus (c. 484 BC – c. 425 BC) is often
considered the "father of history"
History (derived from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historía) 'inquiry; knowledge acquired by investigation') is the systematic study and documentation of the human past.
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, art and material artifacts, and ecological markers. History is incomplete and still has debatable mysteries.
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.
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 BC 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 BC, though only 2nd-century BC texts have survived. (Full article...)
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- ... that in a copyright infringement case over a coffee-table history of the Grateful Dead, the Second Circuit held that a reuser can still claim fair use despite negotiating with the rights holder?
- ... that Maggio di Accettura, a festival in Italy dedicated to the Christian martyr Saint Julian, might have pagan origins or be linked to Langobard history?
- ... that Pat Gozemba married her wife while researching a book about the history of the struggle for equal marriage in Massachusetts?
- ... that Alfredo Frohlich formed an award-winning collection of Panamanian postal history that included items from as early as 1777?
- ... that British philatelist Alma Lee specialised in the "standing Helvetia" stamps of Switzerland?
- ... that journalist W. A. Hewitt refereed the first game played in the history of ice hockey at the Olympic Games?
Maximus the Confessor (Greek: Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής, romanized: Maximos ho Homologētēs), also spelled Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople (c. 580 – 13 August 662), was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar.
In his early life, Maximus was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. He gave up this life in the political sphere to enter the monastic life. Maximus had studied diverse schools of philosophy, and certainly what was common for his time, the Platonic dialogues, the works of Aristotle, and numerous later Platonic commentators on Aristotle and Plato, like Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus. When one of his friends began espousing the Christological position known as Monothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported an interpretation of the Chalcedonian formula on the basis of which it was asserted that Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. He was eventually persecuted for his Christological positions; following a trial, his tongue and right hand were mutilated. (Full article...)On this day
- 1381 – During the Peasants' Revolt in England, rebels stormed the Tower of London, killing Simon Sudbury, Lord Chancellor, and Robert Hales, Lord High Treasurer (both pictured).
- 1644 – First English Civil War: Prince Maurice abandoned his siege of Lyme Regis in Dorset after learning of the approach of a Parliamentarian relief force.
- 1934 – The landmark Australian Eastern Mission concluded after a three-month diplomatic tour of East and South-East Asia.
- 2014 – War in Donbas: An Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down by forces of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, killing all 49 people on board.
- Leonidas Polk (d. 1864)
- Emmeline Pankhurst (d. 1928)
- Heike Friedrich (b. 1976)
- Moon Tae-il (b. 1994)
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Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.
— Thomas Edison, scientist and inventor
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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?
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