Historic vs. Historical 

"Historic" vs. "Historical" in English

What Is Their Main Difference?

We use both to refer to events, people, or anything from the past. However, 'historic' is used when we want to indicate that something/someone is important in history. 'Historical', on the other hand, is used to describe something/someone that is related to the past.

Differences

As I mentioned above, we use 'historic' to state that something is important in history. Check out the following examples:

Example

The time I was able to defend myself is a historic moment in my life.

World War I is one of the historic events about which we should talk about.

'Historical' basically means people, events, and anything related to or existed in the past. Let us take a look at the examples below:

Example

Ever since I've thought about Foucault's theories on time, I lost interest in reading about historical events in order.

The first time I visited a historical museum in New York city, I was ten years old.

Similarities

Both have nearly the same dictations and they are used to indicate important events in history. Look below:

Example

The Vikings is a famous example for historical series.

Letting go of the past was a historic moment for me.

Are They Interchangeable?

These two cannot be used interchangeably because 'historic' means something that is notable in history whereas, 'historical' refers to anything that happened in the past. It may not necessarily be important. Compare:

Example

✓ With the use of the historical map, we were able to find our way back to the forest.

X With the use of the historic map, we were able to find our way back to the forest.

As you can see, this one does is not correct.

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