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.