What is history?
Thesis: History is every single event that has occurred, no matter how large or how trivial it is.
George Washington makes big history by creating his own holiday:
"Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the Beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be."
This is an example of lasting history that affected many people, but history also includes things as simple as this:
Einhard writes that Charlemagne "often complained that fasts injured his health."
This history may not have been a lasting event in everyone's mind, but it did occur, and therefore is history.
Some events affect someone, and then that person may later affect many, many other people. The original event has an indirect affect on us, like this situation with Julius Caesar:
"In the course of his sixteenth year he lost his father ." (Suetonius).
This event probably had a huge impact on him, and defined some of his life choices, which later affected all of the people that he ruled over.
Sources:
De Vita Caesarum, Divus Iulius. Suetonius. Ancient History Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suetonius-julius.html.
The Life of Charlemagne. Einhard. Medieval Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/einhard.html#Habits.
Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789. George Washington. Modern History Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1789thanksgiving.html.
What is "Important"?
Thesis: The word "important has a different meaning to each and every person, and what one finds important can very greatly from the person next to them.
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