passare alla storia

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to pass to (the) history”.

Verb

passàre alla storia (first-person singular present pàsso alla storia, first-person singular past historic passài alla storia, past participle passàto alla storia, auxiliary èssere)

1. (idiomatic) to go down in history
   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 14, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Seduto da solo nel mio appartamento seminterrato, a qualche chilometro da Harvard Square, la faccia incollata alla TV di seconda mano, assistevo al dispiegarsi di quella che poi sarebbe passata alla storia come la Rivoluzione di velluto.

     I recalled sitting alone in my basement apartment a few miles from Harvard Square, glued to my secondhand TV set as I watched what would come to be known as the Velvet Revolution unfold.

     (literally, “Sitting down alone in my basement apartment, a few kilometres away from Harvard Square, my face glued to the secondhand TV, I witnessed the unfolding of what would then have gone down in history as the Velvet Revolution.”)