diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b84cba2f1..f94ec1f92 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ Feature requests and bug reports are always welcome at <https://github.com/behda
 The best place for discussions about TTX from an end-user perspective as well as TTX/FontTools development is the <https://groups.google.com/d/forum/fonttools> mailing list.
 You can also email Behdad privately at <behdad@behdad.org>
 
+### History
+
+The fontTools project was started by Just van Rossum in 1999, and was maintained as an open source project at <http://sourceforge.net/projects/fonttools/>. In 2008, Paul Wise (pabs3) began helping Just with stability maintenance. In 2013 Behdad Esfahbod began a friendly fork, thoroughly reviewing the codebase and making changes at <https://github.com/behdad/fonttools> to add new features and support for new font formats.
+
 ### Credits
 
 Windows setup script: Adam Twardoch