History Quiz

Understanding History

• History is the systematic study and documentation of the human past, derived from the Ancient Greek word for inquiry and knowledge acquired by investigation.
• It encompasses past events, memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of events.
• Events before the invention of writing systems are considered prehistory.
• Historical sources used by historians include written documents, oral accounts, art, material artifacts, and ecological markers.
• History is an academic discipline that uses narrative to describe, examine, question, and analyze past events, and investigate their patterns of cause and effect.
• Historians debate the best narrative to explain an event and the significance of different causes and effects.
• The nature of history itself is debated, as well as its usefulness in providing perspective on present problems.
• Stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources, are classified as cultural heritage or legends.
• History is supported by verifiable evidence, distinguishing it from myth.
• The modern study of history is wide-ranging, including the study of specific regions and certain topical or thematic elements.
• Ancient cultural influences have shaped variant interpretations of history, which continue to evolve today.
• History is incomplete and still holds debatable mysteries.