You've heard the story. You've even seen photos that prove it. It's pounded into the head of every American schoolchild over the age of five. The US transcontinental railroad was completed when a golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, linking East and West on May 10, 1869.
Apologetics means loving God first, people second. Therefore, apologetics is primarily a labor of love and loyalty to God, the Creator, and secondarily a labor of love and learning on behalf of humans, the creatures. Of course, real apologetics properly recognizes the authority of Scripture, as Christ did (compare John 14:6 with 17:17).
Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in the early church and Patristic writers such as Origen, Augustine of Hippo, Justin Martyr and Tertullian, then continuing with writers such as Thomas Aquinas and Anselm of Canterbury during Scholasticism.