Crossword Genius

It was made years ago (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

history

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'it was made years ago' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'it was made years' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is found in the answer.
'was' could be 'is' (being is a kind of being) and 'is' is found in the answer.
'years' could be 'y' (abbreviation) and 'y' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for history that I've seen before include "Background" , "The record of past events" , "Chronicle" , "Life story" , "Old record" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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