Which item is typically considered a primary source in historical research?

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A primary source is an original, firsthand record created at the time of the events or by someone with direct experience, offering raw evidence rather than an interpretation after the fact. The diary of a World War I soldier is a direct, personal account written by someone who lived through those events, so it serves as a primary source for studying that period.

The other items are not primary sources for historical research in this sense: an encyclopedia compiles and interprets information from many sources, making it a secondary source; a veterinarian’s blog post about pets is a modern, informal source not tied to a historical event; a journal article on black holes is a scholarly analysis of scientific findings, which is also secondary in the historical sense unless it presents original primary data about the past.