An element of history is called current events. Current events are the stories of today’s people as they live their lives around the world. Current events are sometimes called “Today’s News.” Citizens can learn about current events from the newspaper or television newscasts. They can also learn of current events from the Internet, magazines, and newly published books. It is by knowing the current events, or news, that we become informed citizens of the United States and the world. Some of today’s current events will become historic for the people of the 22nd century. Some of today’s current event stories are only local headlines in a daily newspaper, newscast, or Internet blog. They will not be remembered as historic. Barry Goldwater Who are historians? A person who works at studying, writing, or teaching about history is known as a historian. Probably they first became interested in history as an elementary-aged student who loved the stories of the Spanish explorers, of Geronimo, and of the American cowboys. After graduating from high school, they went on to study history in college. In college they became very good at reading and writing about the historic people, places, and events of the world. They learned to use timelines with the dating symbols of B.C.E. and B.C.; C.E. and A.D. They learned to use graphs, tables, charts, and maps. They learned to write stories and give oral reports on their new historic knowledge. They had a great curiosity and learned how to do historic research. They located information by using both primary and secondary sources. Examples of a primary source would be an original letter written by the actual person involved or actual movie recordings taken of the event. Examples of a secondary source would be a newspaper article written about the event or a television newscast telling about the event. Rose Mofford Morris Udall Chapter 16 • Arizona in the 21st Century  165