--- a/dmenu.1	2012-01-08 16:18:43.000000000 +0400
+++ b/dmenu.1	2012-06-01 12:55:46.311125002 +0400
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ dmenu \- dynamic menu
 .IR color ]
 .RB [ \-sf
 .IR color ]
+.RB [ \-hist
+.IR "<filename>" ]
 .RB [ \-v ]
 .P
 .BR dmenu_run " ..."
@@ -70,6 +72,9 @@ defines the selected background color.
 .BI \-sf " color"
 defines the selected foreground color.
 .TP
+.BI \-hist " <histfile>"
+the file to use for history
+.TP
 .B \-v
 prints version information to stdout, then exits.
 .SH USAGE
--- a/dmenu.c	2012-01-08 16:18:43.000000000 +0400
+++ b/dmenu.c	2012-06-01 12:55:46.311125002 +0400
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #define MIN(a,b)              ((a) < (b) ? (a) : (b))
 #define MAX(a,b)              ((a) > (b) ? (a) : (b))
 
+#define HIST_SIZE 20
+
 typedef struct Item Item;
 struct Item {
 	char *text;
@@ -34,7 +36,7 @@ static void keypress(XKeyEvent *ev);
 static void match(void);
 static size_t nextrune(int inc);
 static void paste(void);
-static void readstdin(void);
+static void readitems(void);
 static void run(void);
 static void setup(void);
 static void usage(void);
@@ -61,6 +63,10 @@ static Item *prev, *curr, *next, *sel;
 static Window win;
 static XIC xic;
 
+static char hist[HIST_SIZE][1024];
+static char *histfile = NULL;
+static int hcnt = 0;
+
 static int (*fstrncmp)(const char *, const char *, size_t) = strncmp;
 static char *(*fstrstr)(const char *, const char *) = strstr;
 
@@ -100,6 +106,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 			selbgcolor = argv[++i];
 		else if(!strcmp(argv[i], "-sf"))  /* selected foreground color */
 			selfgcolor = argv[++i];
+		else if(!strcmp(argv[i], "-hist"))
+			histfile = argv[++i];
 		else
 			usage();
 
@@ -108,10 +116,10 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
 	if(fast) {
 		grabkeyboard();
-		readstdin();
+	    readitems();
 	}
 	else {
-		readstdin();
+	    readitems();
 		grabkeyboard();
 	}
 	setup();
@@ -120,6 +128,30 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 	return 1; /* unreachable */
 }
 
+static int
+writehistory(char *command) {
+	int i = 0;
+	FILE *f;
+
+	if(!histfile || strlen(command) <= 0)
+		return 0;
+
+	if((f = fopen(histfile, "w"))) {
+		fputs(command, f);
+		fputc('\n', f);
+		for(; i < hcnt; i++) {
+			if(strcmp(command, hist[i]) != 0) {
+				fputs(hist[i], f);
+				fputc('\n', f);
+			}
+		}
+		fclose(f);
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 void
 appenditem(Item *item, Item **list, Item **last) {
 	if(*last)
@@ -359,6 +391,7 @@ keypress(XKeyEvent *ev) {
 	case XK_Return:
 	case XK_KP_Enter:
 		puts((sel && !(ev->state & ShiftMask)) ? sel->text : text);
+		writehistory( (sel == NULL) ? text : sel->text);
 		exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
 	case XK_Right:
 		if(text[cursor] != '\0') {
@@ -464,12 +497,29 @@ paste(void) {
 }
 
 void
-readstdin(void) {
+readitems(void) {
 	char buf[sizeof text], *p, *maxstr = NULL;
 	size_t i, max = 0, size = 0;
+	FILE *f;
+
+	if(histfile && (f = fopen(histfile, "r"))) {
+        for(i = 0; fgets(buf, sizeof buf, f); i++) {
+		    if(i+1 >= size / sizeof *items)
+		   		if(!(items = realloc(items, (size += BUFSIZ))))
+		   			eprintf("cannot realloc %u bytes:", size);
+			if((p = strchr(buf, '\n')))
+				*p = '\0';
+		    if(!(items[i].text = strdup(buf)))
+			    eprintf("cannot strdup %u bytes:", strlen(buf)+1);
+		    if(strlen(items[i].text) > max)
+			    max = strlen(maxstr = items[i].text);
+			strncpy(hist[hcnt++], buf, (strlen(buf) <= 1024) ? strlen(buf): 1024 );
+        }
+		fclose(f);
+	}
 
 	/* read each line from stdin and add it to the item list */
-	for(i = 0; fgets(buf, sizeof buf, stdin); i++) {
+	for(; fgets(buf, sizeof buf, stdin); i++) {
 		if(i+1 >= size / sizeof *items)
 			if(!(items = realloc(items, (size += BUFSIZ))))
 				eprintf("cannot realloc %u bytes:", size);
@@ -602,6 +652,6 @@ setup(void) {
 void
 usage(void) {
 	fputs("usage: dmenu [-b] [-f] [-i] [-l lines] [-p prompt] [-fn font]\n"
-	      "             [-nb color] [-nf color] [-sb color] [-sf color] [-v]\n", stderr);
+	      "             [-nf color] [-sb color] [-sf color] [-hist histfile] [-v]\n", stderr);
 	exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }