A systematic, written account of events, particularly of
those affecting a nation, institution, science, or art, and usually
connected with a philosophical explanation of their causes; a true
story, as distinguished from a romance; – distinguished also from
annals, which relate simply the facts and events of each year, in
strict chronological order; from biography, which is the record of an
individual’s life; and from memoir, which is history composed from
personal experience, observation, and memory.