The beginning of history?

Question

Ok this is just something I was wondering about last night while watching t.v.

The definition of prehistory is a time before history was recorded or written down.

The definition of history is.. a chronological record of significant events.

my question is what specific date or year does prehistory end and history begin? Only serious answers please

Answer 1

For there to be a chronological record, significant events have to written down, so recorded history coincided with the invention of writing.

Answer 2

Good question!  As you said, it's hard to pin down, but I think that 2,500 - 5,000 years ago would be a good ballpark figure.

You're right that history is often defined by written records.  It can also be defined loosely as the era of civilizations, when people began living together in fixed city-states.  The earliest civilizations started to develop around 5,000 years ago, in various places throughout the world.  

The oldest writings and oral traditions are also about that old.  But many of them would be classified as mythology or sacred texts, more than accurate history.

Herodotus, a Greek of 2,500 years ago, is often called the "father of history" because he was the earliest remembered western scholar to recognize the importance of keeping historical written records.  So there is no doubt that we have lived in the "historical period" since 500 BC.  Just how much further back it goes is up to debate, but I think that very few people would argue that history goes back much before 3000 BC.

Answer 3

I would say on or about the day that homo sapiens evolved to leave stories on cave walls about 200,000 years ago.

Answer 4

The earliest recorded stuff you will find in the bible!.  I am not a religious nut and I don't believe everything I read  or that scribes sat a lifetime scribbling a lot of drivel just to decieve  future generations. This stuff was jotted down to give us an inkling of what went on in their time. They probably filled in what they didn't know with stories that they themselves would believe, and thought that we would believe them also. We all tell lies to fill in gaps even today. is that so hard to believe.

Answer 5

History began on the first day of the world. But in the sense that you mean it's when the written language was decoupled fully to be written down and recorded of us to look back at.