The word diary is derived from the Latin word, diarium, which originally meant daily allowance and was derived from diarius, which means daily. In later times the term came to refer to a journal. . www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=diary A diary is different form a memoir in that a diary lists events or musings as they happen in daily life whereas a memoir is written long after the events recorded occurred. www.encyclopedia.com/topic/diary.aspx In Roman times many diaries were notes or journals detailing household needs and functions and even accounting ledgers or notebooks containing legal cases, business information or speeches. www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/127820/commentarii Also included among writings that are now termed diaries are the Commentarii Principis which were the official journal as maintained by the Roman Emperor.

In today's modern world, diaries are kept--mostly by girls and women as a means of self expression and discovery. They can be used as therapeutic tools, though there are no formal guidelines governing how a diary should be created. These books are often considered very private and are generally not intended for reading by anyone but the writer--hence why many diaries are equipped with built-in locks.

Throughout history Diaries have been kept by many people that although they at the time were just ordinary folk going about daily life but as time marched on the pages they filled became of interest to historians for what they told of what events occured. One such person was Charles Lutwidge Dodgeson or as he is better known Lewis Carroll and his diaries have raised a controversy because the pages for certain years have been removed and it remains unknown by whom or for what reason. www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/famous-historical-diaries-258739.html Another famous person whose diary is considered to be important was Samuel Pepys who kept an incredibly detailed account of his life and provided historians with a very accurate account of life in London during several catastrophes including the great plague of 1665 and the London fire of 1666.

The most well known diary was by a young teenager named Anne Frank who was forced to go into hiding during the persecution of members of the Jewish community in Amsterdam during the period known as Holocaust. The diary details Anne’s life during the time that she and her family were hiding with others in an annex above the rooms her father had used as an office. The family was betrayed and sent to Nazi concentration camps at which she remained for 9 months at which point she died of typhus. Her diary was found and saved by one of the people that helped her family during their trials. www.annefrank.com/who-is-anne-frank/