In order to understand the present and create better living conditions, we need to know the past. The past causes the present, and so the future. The study of history is important because it allows us to make more sense of the current world. We need to know the material and spiritual past so that we can more appreciate and preserve it for the generations to come. Without history, we would not know what are the best works of our ancestors, who are heroes of the past, how the world was changing.
In everyday life, we often come across the word history. The word history comes from the Ancient Greek historía, meaning 'inquiry', 'knowledge from inquiry', or 'judge'.This word is used either for something that has happened in the past or for the science that studies the past of human society, from the birth of man to the present.
The first true historian in recorded history is Herodotus. He is referred to as the father of history. Herodotus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BCE.
Historical science is also called historiography, and people trained in history are called historians. The primary duties of historians are obtaining historical data from libraries, archives and artifacts, they should determine the authenticity of historical data and teaching or research at universities. Historians usually choose a particular time period or a particular group of people to study. There are many different types of historians, each with a specialty or a specific area of study in which they are experts.
Historical data and other historical material are called historical sources. They contain very important information about the past. They inform us about the past and are used as clues in order to study.
There are two main types of historical sources: primary sources and secondary sources:
Historical sources include:
Other historical sources are some paintings, images, jewelry, clothes, as well as myths and legends, biographies etc.
When we talk about past events it is important to know the place and the time they happened. Mankind's past is divided into two great periods: prehistory and history.
Prehistory lasted for millions of years and refers to the period from the appearance of man to the invention of the letter and is divided into two periods: Stone and Metal age.
After the invention of the letter, comes the period, that we call history. To classify history there are known many ways. The most common way dividing world history into three distinct ages or periods:
