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of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of or past events:
historical records; historical research.
based on or reconstructed from an event, custom, style, etc., in the past:
a historical reenactment of the battle of Gettysburg.
having once existed or lived in the real world, as opposed to being part of legend or fiction or as distinguished from religious belief:
to doubt that a historical Camelot ever existed; a theologian’s study of the historical Jesus.
narrated or mentioned in ; belonging to the past.
noting or pertaining to analysis based on a comparison among several periods of development of a phenomenon, as in language or economics.
(def 1).
Contemporary Examples

As last year, these numbers are conservative; some historical speeches may have been missed by our research.
35 All-Time Graduation Speakers The Daily Beast May 17, 2011

The Persian Boy By Mary Renault This is my North Star of historical fiction.
Geraldine Brooks’ Favorite Historical Fiction Geraldine Brooks May 10, 2011

Yes, Washington should be aiming to leave the federal government’s share of GDP near the historical norm of 18-20 percent.
Bobby Jindal Dives the Shark Justin Green December 5, 2012

Yet, like all artists, they were inspired by nature, religion, politics, and historical milestones.
Infinite Variety: The Quilt Show’s Catch-22 Lizzie Crocker March 28, 2011

Wolfowitz and his fellow neocons are well aware of these histories and historical complexities.
Leave Iran to the Iranians Leslie H. Gelb June 20, 2009

Historical Examples

Myths are of three kinds: historical, Philosophical, and Poetical.
The Christ John Eleazer Remsburg

Such prophecy is the perfect working of the historical imagination.
A Dish Of Orts George MacDonald

historical development of Middle-age Cosmic Philosophy, 28-51.
The Magic of the Middle Ages Viktor Rydberg

The historical plays would illustrate the remark as well as any.
A Dish Of Orts George MacDonald

Almost all of Isadore’s reading had been historical or scientific.
Comrade Yetta Albert Edwards

adjective
belonging to or typical of the study of history: historical methods
concerned with or treating of events of the past: historical accounts
based on or constituting factual material as distinct from legend or supposition
based on or inspired by history: a historical novel
occurring or prominent in history
a less common word for historic (sense 1)
adj.

early 15c. (earlier in same sense was historial, late 14c.), from Latin historicus (from Greek historikos “historical, of or for inquiry,” from historia; see history) + -al (1). Related: Historically.