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.