History是“历史”，这个短句的直译是“余下的就是历史了”。这是什么意思呢？请看对话：

    A: Perhaps Scotland’s most famous invention, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, is a controversial one because many people maintain that he stole the idea from American inventor Elisha Gray, or at least came up with it later.

    B: Whatever the truth, Bell succeeded in getting the patent, and the rest is history.

    Note: History is of course — well-known history. So well-known that there is no need to tell it again. It indicates that the rest of the story is in written history, standard history, officially recorded. That’s what’s implied when someone tells you something and right in the middle of it they say “and the rest is history” — and conclude their tale. This phrase is usually a good way to conclude a lengthy story about someone famous.