Diaries, from the Latin word dies for ‘day’, are records of daily life and opinions organised by date.

It is said that the art of diary-keeping became popular in the 18th Century, reaching its peak during the Victorian era.

While diaries were commonly meant to record private thoughts of the diarist, currently they give people important insights into historical events and the everyday life of the culture in which the diarist lives. 

Historically, one of the earliest examples of a diary belongs to Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor who lived in the 2nd Century.

However, during the Renaissance, majority of the people began keeping diaries as a way to express opinions without any intention of one day publishing their writings.

In these works, there was more of an emphasis on reflection and introspection rather than recording everyday events.

Today, it is said that the earliest recorded use of the word diary in reference to a written daily record was in 1605.

It was until the 18th Century that most diaries were kept by men and were usually just daily notes about business or farming. Others kept spiritual diaries of sorts, in which they counted their blessings and confessed their sins.

Globally, as literacy rates spiked, the cost of paper dropped, and people became more aware, diarising became more popular in the 18th Century.

The first publication of private diaries occurred in 1818, with John Evelyn’s record of his life, notes the oldtimey.

The number of diaries published doubled every year in the 1820’s, reaching a peak in the 1830’s that was maintained for 20 years.

To cash in on the popularity of published diaries, the Letts Company began producing large formatted diaries in the 1820s. By the 1850s, they were selling thousands of diaries every year.

At the time, diaries were far more popular with women than with men, and diarising was often considered by men to be merry.

The biased view, reports indicate, by no means deterred diarists from writing. Diarising has continued to be a popular past time, and diaries have offered historians invaluable information regarding first-hand accounts of historical events and the day-to-day minutiae of everyday life.

With the advent of technology, more diarists have been switching to recording their diaries online, with the first online written between 1994 and 1996 by Claudio Pinhanez.

Online diaries have enabled rise to blogs, in which writers publish posts rather than entries.

The difference is that posts tend to include images and are meant for public consumption. Unlike written diaries, online diaries are usually not private.

However, there are programmes which can encrypt diaries, offering more privacy than a traditional handwritten book, which must be locked or hidden.

The latest development of diaries are mobile journaling apps that allow users to record their thoughts and images in real time on-the-go.