View source

History is the preservation, discovery, and relation of factual information about the past.  Properly understood and conducted it follows the scientific method: observations raise questions, hypotheses seek to answer the questions, and theories - models - are constructed which fit all known facts and are useful in making predictions, based on hypotheses which survive testing.  As with all correct application of the scientific method, historical theories are always tentative, subject to change or abandonment as newly discovered or validated information warrants.

An excellent example of proper history is the work of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss_and_Howe Strauss and Howe] first presented in "Generations" (1991).
[[Image:HistoryLegendMyth.jpg|frame|''A book of good history, a character from legend, and facts that contradict a myth'']]
Legend is the recounting of past events for entertainment; its elements are primarily fictional, and contain only a leavening of factual information sufficient to add verisimilitude and facilitate suspension of disbelief.

An excellent example of legend is the story of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Godiva Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom].

Myth is the construction of narratives based on history, with the function and purpose of justifying a set of beliefs about how the world came to be as it is, and how people ought to behave in it.  Myth can thus be completely true to history, or have little or nothing to do with it, and is resistant to changes in the body of available objective evidence.  Myth can be produced either by sincere believers or by fraudulent manipulators.

An excellent example of myth is [http://www.junkscience.com/ Hansen and Gore's "Global Warming"].