History vs Story - English In A Minute

Dan: Hi, I'm Dan from BBC Learning English

and today I'm going to tell you the difference

between those two confusing words

history and story.

Both words are used for a description of events.

So that makes them the same, right?

WRONG! They are not the same.

History is the description or study of past events based on fact, often to understand their consequences.

.

‘Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492.'

.

A story is the description of a series of real or imagined events, often to entertain people.

.

'After arriving in America in 1492,

Columbus and his crew were attacked by a giant

man-eating T-Rex dinosaur!' That didn't

happen! It's just a story.

So… history is the description of past

events based on fact and stories are descriptions

of real or imagined events often to entertain.

Leave us a comment about a piece

of history or an imagined story from your culture!

We'll try and guess which is which!