Modern history

History (from Greek ἱστορία, historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation") is the study of the past as it is described in written documents. Events occurring before written record are considered prehistory. It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these events. Scholars who write about history are called historians.

Modern may refer to:

Modern history, the modern period or the modern era, is the linear, global, historiographical approach to the time frame after post-classical history. This view stands in contrast to the "organic," or non-linear, view of history first put forward by the renowned philosopher and historian, Oswald Spengler, early in the 20th century. Modern history can be further broken down into periods :