See (and reuse) the most recently typed commands

The command-line includes a powerful history feature that can make
life much easier. To see the recently typed commands, type history. This
simply dumps to screen a hidden file in your /home directory called
.bash_history where up to 1000 commands are recorded. Because this
list will scroll off the screen when listed it’s a good idea to pipe the
output into a text reader, such as less:

$ history|less

To reuse one of your commands, at the command-prompt type an
exclamation mark (!; known as a bang in bash-speak) and then the
number alongside the entry in the history list. For example, on my
system, I noted when viewing the history list that the command cp
/etc/fstab ~/Desktop was command 591. To use it again, I typed !591 at
the command-prompt. If you ever need to simply repeat a command
you’ve just used, type two exclamation marks—!!.
To actively rifle through your command history, hit Ctrl + r and then
start typing the command you’re interested in. The prompt will “auto-
complete” as you type. To use the command, hit Enter . To edit it before
using it, hit Esc and then make your changes.
Hitting the up and down cursor keys will also let you move through the
most recently commands typed. Just hit Enter when you find the one
you want to reuse.