diff --git a/clean_files.txt b/clean_files.txt
index 50e8a7a1..53765a5f 100644
--- a/clean_files.txt
+++ b/clean_files.txt
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ plugins/available/docker-machine.plugin.bash
 plugins/available/git.plugin.bash
 plugins/available/go.plugin.bash
 plugins/available/goenv.plugin.bash
+plugins/available/history-eternal.plugin.bash
 plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash
 plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash
 plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
diff --git a/plugins/available/history-eternal.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history-eternal.plugin.bash
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a18283d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/available/history-eternal.plugin.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+about-plugin 'eternal bash history'
+
+# Load after the history plugin
+# BASH_IT_LOAD_PRIORITY: 375
+
+# Modify history sizes before changing location to avoid unintentionally
+# truncating the history file early.
+
+# "Numeric values less than zero result in every command being saved on the history list (there is no limit)"
+export HISTSIZE=-1
+
+# "Non-numeric values and numeric values less than zero inhibit truncation"
+export HISTFILESIZE='unlimited'
+
+# Use a custom history file location so history is not truncated
+# if the environment ever loses this "eternal" configuration.
+HISTDIR="${XDG_STATE_HOME:-${HOME?}/.local/state}/bash"
+[[ -d ${HISTDIR?} ]] || mkdir -p "${HISTDIR?}"
+export HISTFILE="${HISTDIR?}/history"
diff --git a/plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash
index ea02eb74..341ce2af 100644
--- a/plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # shellcheck shell=bash
-cite about-plugin
 about-plugin 'search history using the prefix already entered'
 
+# Load after the history plugin
+# BASH_IT_LOAD_PRIORITY: 375
+
 # enter a few characters and press UpArrow/DownArrow
 # to search backwards/forwards through the history
 if [[ ${SHELLOPTS} =~ (vi|emacs) ]]; then
diff --git a/plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash
index e0e37f43..586ceb50 100644
--- a/plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # shellcheck shell=bash
-cite about-plugin
 about-plugin 'search history using the substring already entered'
 
+# Load after the history plugin
+# BASH_IT_LOAD_PRIORITY: 375
+
 # enter a few characters and press UpArrow/DownArrow
 # to search backwards/forwards through the history
 if [[ ${SHELLOPTS} =~ (vi|emacs) ]]; then
diff --git a/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
index 08ca8de6..be253e4a 100644
--- a/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # shellcheck shell=bash
-cite about-plugin
 about-plugin 'improve history handling with sane defaults'
 
-# append to bash_history if Terminal.app quits
+# Append the history list to the file named by the value of the HISTFILE
+# variable when the shell exits, rather than overwriting the file.
 shopt -s histappend
 
 # erase duplicates; alternative option: export HISTCONTROL=ignoredups
@@ -11,19 +11,17 @@ export HISTCONTROL=${HISTCONTROL:-ignorespace:erasedups}
 # resize history to 100x the default (500)
 export HISTSIZE=${HISTSIZE:-50000}
 
-top-history() {
+# Flush history to disk after each command.
+export PROMPT_COMMAND="history -a;${PROMPT_COMMAND}"
+
+function top-history() {
 	about 'print the name and count of the most commonly run tools'
 
-	if [[ -n $HISTTIMEFORMAT ]]; then
-		# To parse history we need a predictable format, which HISTTIMEFORMAT
-		# gets in the way of. So we unset it and set a trap to guarantee the
-		# user's environment returns to normal even if the pipeline below fails.
-		# shellcheck disable=SC2064
-		trap "export HISTTIMEFORMAT='$HISTTIMEFORMAT'" RETURN
-		unset HISTTIMEFORMAT
-	fi
-
-	history \
+	# - Make sure formatting doesn't interfer with our parsing
+	# - Use awk to count how many times the first command on each line has been called
+	# - Truncate to 10 lines
+	# - Print in column format
+	HISTTIMEFORMAT='' history \
 		| awk '{
 				a[$2]++
 			}END{