Prehistory (meaning "before history," from the Latin word for "before," præ) is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing. Archaeologist Paul Tournal originally coined the term anté-historique in describing the finds he had made in the caves of southern France. Thus, the term came into use in France in the 1830s to describe the time before writing, and the word "prehistoric" was later introduced into English by archaeologist Daniel Wilson in 1851.

The term "prehistory" can refer to the vast span of time since the beginning of the Universe, but more often it refers to the period since life appeared on Earth, or even more specifically to the time since human-like beings appeared. In dividing up human prehistory, prehistorians typically use the three-age system, whereas scholars of pre-human time periods typically use the well defined geologic record and its internationally defined stratum base within the geologic time scale. The three-age system is the periodization of human prehistory into three consecutive time periods, named for their respective predominant tool-making technologies: the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Another division of history and prehistory can be made between those written events that can be precisely dated by use of a continuous calendar dating from current and those that can't. The loss of continuity of calendar date most often occurs when a civilization falls and the language and calendar fall into disuse. The current civilization therefore loses the ability to precisely date events written through primary sources to events dated to current calendar dating.

Charles "Chuck" Missler is an author, evangelical Christian, Bible teacher, former businessman and US Naval officer. He is the founder of the Koinonia House ministry based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Missler was for several years the chairman, the chief executive, and the largest shareholder of Western Digital. In 1983 he became the chairman and chief executive of Helionetics Inc., another technology company. After teaching for many years at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Missler moved to Coeur d'Alene in 1992 and founded Koinonia House. Through this organization, Missler distributes a monthly newsletter, Bible study tapes, and a radio show, and speaks at conferences.

Missler is a prominent speaker on the subject of bible prophecy. Missler has had numerous programs aired on the Christian television station GOD TV, namely the DVD versions of his biblical studies "Learn the Bible in 24 Hours", "The Book of Revelation", "The Book of Genesis", and "The Book of Daniel".^{[citation needed]} A Los Angeles Times article reported that Missler and co-author Hal Lindsey had plagiarized a portion of Miami University Professor Edwin Yamauchi's 1982 book Foes From the Northern Frontier in their own 1992 book The Magog Factor. A YouTube video in which Missler uses a jar of peanut butter to attempt to disprove evolution attracted media attention in 2007-2008.