historic

? Both these adjectives are derived from the noun history, but they are used in different ways. Historical means "existing or happening in the past," "describing events or people from the past," and "relating to the past or to the study of history"; it may describe people or things, as in a historical figure or a historical novel. The principal meaning of historic, on the other hand, is "important in history": the historic moment when the Berlin Wall came downthe preservation of our city's historic district. Historic can sometimes be used in place of historical in the sense "existing in, happening in, or relating to the past," but historical should never be used in place of historic.