Portal:History
The History Portal
History (derived from Ancient Greek ἱστορία (historía) 'inquiry; knowledge acquired by investigation') is the systematic study and documentation of the 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.
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, Ibn Khaldun, and Kenneth Dike. (Full article...)
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- ... that Puerto Rico's Willie Hernández became the highest paid player in Detroit Tigers history after winning Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards and a World Series?
- ... that Eli N. Evans authored three books about the culture and history of Jews in the American South?
- ... that American Colossus is a biography of a man who was "the most famous sportsman in the world" and "the most forgotten great athlete in American history"?
- ... that the leak of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game was described as one of the biggest leaks in video game history?
- ... that despite his distinguished family history, musicologist Yuri Shcherbinin told friends that "what matters most is what you are, not who your ancestors were"?
- ... that 25 years after her career ended, Jennifer Martz remains second in NCAA Division III history in hitting percentage?
Master Juba (ca. 1825 – ca. 1852 or 1853) was an African-American dancer active in the 1840s. He was one of the first black performers in the United States to play onstage for white audiences and the only one of the era to tour with a white minstrel group. His real name was believed to be William Henry Lane, and he was also known as "Boz's Juba" following Dickens's graphic description of him in American Notes.
As a teenager, he began his career in the rough saloons and dance halls of Manhattan's Five Points neighborhood, moving on to minstrel shows in the mid-1840s. "Master Juba" frequently challenged and defeated the best white dancers, including the period favorite, John Diamond. At the height of his American career, Juba's act featured a sequence in which he imitated a series of famous dancers of the day and closed by performing in his own style. Being a black man, he appeared with minstrel troupes in which he imitated white minstrel dancers caricaturing black dance, obscuring his underlying ethnic identity with blackface . Even with his success in America, his greatest success came in England. (Full article...)
On this day
November 1: Samhain and Beltane in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, respectively; Rajyotsava (Formation Day) in Karnataka, India (1956)
- 1214 – Byzantine–Seljuk wars: Seljuq Turks captured the important port city of Sinope.
- 1921 – Frances Kyle was called to the Bar of Ireland, becoming the first female barrister in Ireland or Great Britain.
- 1941 – American photographer Ansel Adams (pictured) shot Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, one of his most famous photographs.
- 1944 – World War II: An American F-13 Superfortress made the first flight by an Allied aircraft over Tokyo since the Doolittle Raid in April 1942.
- 1963 – Lê Quang Tung, loyalist head of the South Vietnam Special Forces, was executed in a U.S.-backed coup against president Ngô Đình Diệm following a period of religious unrest.
- Józef Zajączek (b. 1752)
- Caroline Still Anderson (b. 1848)
- Umberto Agnelli (b. 1934)
- Livia Gouverneur (d. 1961)
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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- ... that a junior officer on the USS Ancon refused King George VI entry to the ship's intelligence centre because no one told him the King "was a Bigot"?
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