diff --git a/clean_files.txt b/clean_files.txt
index 6882ceff0d..f94b2dcafe 100644
--- a/clean_files.txt
+++ b/clean_files.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ hooks
 .gitattributes
 lint_clean_files.sh
 
+# plugins
+#
+plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
+plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash
+plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash
+
 # themes
 #
 themes/agnoster
diff --git a/lib/history.bash b/lib/history.bash
deleted file mode 100644
index a1a7cb04aa..0000000000
--- a/lib/history.bash
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-# Bash History Handling
-
-shopt -s histappend                                      # append to bash_history if Terminal.app quits
-export HISTCONTROL=${HISTCONTROL:-ignorespace:erasedups} # erase duplicates; alternative option: export HISTCONTROL=ignoredups
-export HISTSIZE=${HISTSIZE:-5000}                        # resize history size
-export AUTOFEATURE=${AUTOFEATURE:-true autotest}         # Cucumber / Autotest integration
-
-function rh {
-  history | awk '{a[$2]++}END{for(i in a){print a[i] " " i}}' | sort -rn | head
-}
diff --git a/plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea02eb7494
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/available/history-search.plugin.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+cite about-plugin
+about-plugin 'search history using the prefix already entered'
+
+# enter a few characters and press UpArrow/DownArrow
+# to search backwards/forwards through the history
+if [[ ${SHELLOPTS} =~ (vi|emacs) ]]; then
+	bind '"\e[A":history-search-backward'
+	bind '"\e[B":history-search-forward'
+fi
diff --git a/plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e0e37f43d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/available/history-substring-search.plugin.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+cite about-plugin
+about-plugin 'search history using the substring already entered'
+
+# enter a few characters and press UpArrow/DownArrow
+# to search backwards/forwards through the history
+if [[ ${SHELLOPTS} =~ (vi|emacs) ]]; then
+	bind '"\e[A":history-substring-search-backward'
+	bind '"\e[B":history-substring-search-forward'
+fi
diff --git a/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
index 528548ef02..08ca8de634 100644
--- a/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/history.plugin.bash
@@ -1,9 +1,39 @@
+# shellcheck shell=bash
 cite about-plugin
-about-plugin 'history manipulation'
-# enter a few characters and press UpArrow/DownArrow
-# to search backwards/forwards through the history
-if [[ ${SHELLOPTS} =~ (vi|emacs) ]]
-then
-    bind '"":history-search-backward'
-    bind '"":history-search-forward'
-fi
+about-plugin 'improve history handling with sane defaults'
+
+# append to bash_history if Terminal.app quits
+shopt -s histappend
+
+# erase duplicates; alternative option: export HISTCONTROL=ignoredups
+export HISTCONTROL=${HISTCONTROL:-ignorespace:erasedups}
+
+# resize history to 100x the default (500)
+export HISTSIZE=${HISTSIZE:-50000}
+
+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 \
+		| awk '{
+				a[$2]++
+			}END{
+				for(i in a)
+				printf("%s\t%s\n", a[i], i)
+			}' \
+		| sort --reverse --numeric-sort \
+		| head \
+		| column \
+			--table \
+			--table-columns 'Command Count,Command Name' \
+			--output-separator ' | '
+}