History
<p>(The word history—from the Ancient Greek ιστορία, or istoria, meaning "a learning or knowing by inquiry"—is etymologically unrelated to the possessive pronoun his.).<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herstory#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup>
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<b>History</b> (from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language" >Greek</a> <i>ἱστορία</i> - <i>historia</i>, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation"<sup id="cite_ref-JosephJanda_1-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-JosephJanda-1" >[2]</a></sup>) is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historian" title="Historian" >historians</a>. It is a field of research which uses a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative" title="Narrative" >narrative</a> to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it sometimes attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause and effect that determine events</p>
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.<sup id="cite_ref-evans1_2-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-evans1-2" >[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-3" >[4]</a></sup> Historians debate the nature of history and its usefulness. This includes discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the present.<sup id="cite_ref-evans1_2-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-evans1-2" >[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Tosh1_4-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-Tosh1-4" >[5]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-5" >[6]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-6" >[7]</a></sup> The stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources (such as the legends surrounding <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur" title="King Arthur" >King Arthur</a>) are usually classified as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_heritage" title="Cultural heritage" >cultural heritage</a> rather than the "disinterested investigation" needed by the discipline of history.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-7" >[8]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Low1_8-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History#cite_note-Low1-8" >[9]</a></sup> Events of the past prior to written record are considered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory" title="Prehistory" >prehistory</a>.
Amongst scholars, the 5th-century BC Greek historian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodotus" title="Herodotus" >Herodotus</a> is considered to be the "father of history", and, along with his contemporary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides" title="Thucydides" >Thucydides</a>, forms the foundations for the modern study of history. Their influence, along with other historical traditions in other parts of their world, have spawned many different interpretations of the nature of history which has evolved over the centuries and are continuing to change. The modern study of history has many different fields including those that focus on certain regions and those which focus on 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.</p>