  The Higgs boson was postulated in 1964, and phenomenological studies of its
possible production and decays started in the early 1970s, followed by studies
of its possible production in electron-positron, antiproton-proton and
proton-proton collisions, in particular. Until recently, the most sensitive
searches for the Higgs boson were at LEP between 1989 and 2000, which were
complemented by searches at the Fermilab Tevatron. Then the LHC experiments
ATLAS and CMS entered the hunt, announcing on July 4, 2012 the discovery of a
"Higgs-like" particle with a mass of about 125~GeV. This identification has
been supported by subsequent measurements of its spin, parity and coupling
properties. It was widely anticipated that the Higgs boson would be accompanied
by supersymmetry, although other options, like compositeness, were not
completely excluded. So far there are no signs any new physics, and the
measured properties of the Higgs boson are consistent with the predictions of
the minimal Standard Model. This article reviews some of the key historical
developments in Higgs physics over the past half-century.
