We explain what an event is, what historical events are and examples. In addition, we tell you what a historical process is.
What is an event?
an event It is an event, fact or occurrence to which a certain importance is given either because its nature is random or exceptional, or because it has a particular meaning within the community.
The term event It is a word composed of the verb happen and the suffix liewhose origin dates back to Vulgar Latin contingescereat the base of which is the Latin verb contingere (“happen” or “touch”). It is a term widely used in journalistic language, in history and in philosophy.
In principle, anything that happens at a given moment can be considered an event, as long as there is a context within which said event has importance and some particular meaning. For example, for international journalism a declaration of war between two nations is undoubtedly an event; but so is, in the private life of a family, the birth of a new child.
See also: Period
Historical events
A historical event is a fact relevant to the history of humanity. Normally, they are political, social and economic events that have a great impact on the lives of many people and which are subsequently stored in the collective memory.
Some examples of historical events are:
- The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 due to the siege of barbarian peoples and the administrative difficulties of the Empire, which from then on dissolved into numerous Christian kingdoms that would eventually give rise to the nations of Europe.
- The Eastern Schism in 1054 formal separation of the two oldest branches of the Christian church: Catholicism and Orthodoxy, due to a series of ecclesiastical and theological differences.
- The “discovery” of America in 1492 with the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the coasts of the Caribbean. This event marked the beginning of the end for the pre-Columbian empires of the region, and the beginning of a bloody war of conquest in which the foundations of today's Latin America were laid.
- The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 the only times in which an atomic bomb has been dropped on a civilian population, and which ended the Second World War after annihilating more than 250,000 people in just a few moments.
- The Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 which deposited three American astronauts on the surface of the Moon for the first and only time in history. This event was followed on television by almost 500 million people.
- The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 symbol of the reunification of Federal Germany (capitalist) and Democratic Germany (communist), divided since the Second World War and ideologically at odds.
- The attack on the twin towers in New York in 2001 the work of an Islamist terrorist group called Al Qaedawhich collapsed the famous American towers and caused the death of almost three thousand people.
Historical process
A historical process It is a set of historical events that are related to each other, and that can be understood as part of the same historical movement. It is a category used in the study of history, which allows us to understand historical events not as isolated and fortuitous events, but as parts of a longer process.
Historical processes have different characteristics, rhythms and durations, and in many cases they overlap or juxtapose each other, affecting each other. This way, History can be understood as a continuum of processes and events rather than as a recounting of individual events.
For example, if the different wars of independence of the Spanish American nations are considered, it will undoubtedly be noted that they coincide in proximity of dates (1809-1829), motivations and results. Hence, they can be considered as part of a process that, however, did not begin overnight, but rather required first the circulation of the liberal ideas of the French Revolution of 1789 and the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte's army to Spain. in 1808.
Continue with: The 10 most influential leaders in history
References
- Belvedesi, R. (2021). “What defines a historical event? The understanding of the past and the life of social communities.” History Notebooks (55). pp. 21-36.
- Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary. “Etymology of Event.” https://etimologias.dechile.net/
- Royal Academy of the Spanish Language. Dictionary of the Spanish Language. https://dle.rae.es/
