Songfacts®:

• Penned by 1D's Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson with regular collaborators Julian Bunetta, Ed Drewett, Wayne Hector and John Ryan, this acoustic sing-along celebrates the fans that have supported the band through their good times and bad times.
• Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Liam Payne described "History" as a "modern version" of the Carole King song "You've Got a Friend." He added: "More than anything, the song is about the way the fans and everyone have created this massive thing - One Direction - over the past five years. Out of ['History'] comes a little bit of closure for this chapter of One Direction."
• You may have noticed some extra voices during the chorus of the song. Some Directioners were brought into the studio to record a crowd vocal, a feat which was orchestrated by Niall Horan and Julian Bunetta. "It's really great because obviously that song is mainly about the fans and what they've done," Liam said. "I think it was important that they were a part of it, to close the album."
• The 1D guys chose to include this on the Made in the A.M. record because they all agreed it was one of the best songs they've had. Niall Horan explained: "It's got that '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' feel to it, campfire-y, easy-to-play, four-chords simple."
  
  "It talks about history between ourselves and the fans, all the time we spent on the road and the crew, the people that have been with us from day one, the history of everything. Everything about the last five years and 'we can make some more and let's not stop now' type of thing. Just a good vibe about it."
• After the band went on hiatus in 2016, they released a video for this song that served as a career retrospective, with the four members walking their separate ways at the end.
  
  The clip was directed by Ben Winston and Gabe Turner, who have directed and produced many of 1D's previous videos, along with Calvin Aurand who has been the band's official photographer for several years.
  
  Aurand told MTV News the three directors were looking to create both a celebratory and emotional mood. He said: "It is celebratory because it's been an incredible ride for everyone. It's been a joyous thing. It's always been a really positive experience.
  
  But obviously the emotion of it lies in the fact that they are taking a little break, and in the moments in the video where they hug and such, where you can kind of feel that it's not just the fans that are emotional, but they are too. They love their fans and they love what they do, and I think the video was just trying to share with their fans that they feel the same way."
  
• The nostalgic clips in the video include shots of Zayn Malik. So what does the former 1D member think of the visual? "I've seen the music video, it's cool. Yeah, it was cool," he said during an interview on the LA radio show Zach Sang and the Gang. "I liked the fact they were nostalgic, shall we say, about the memories that we shared together. It was a positive thing. I enjoyed it, it was nice to look back at the memories that we shared together."
• The music clip won Best Video at the 2017 BRIT Awards. Liam Payne was the only 1D member present at the ceremony and he accepted the award from the band's mastermind Simon Cowell.