is there a "history" as in lightroom

No you're not missing anything, there is no history like in lightroom. Different programs with different editing styles. I have never found the need for a history though a few people here have voice a desire for it.

In Aperture, at least as I work, if I get to a point were the version I am working on is at a point I want to 'freeze' or be able to get back to I simply make a new version from it and continue working on the new version. Versions in Aperture take up no appreciable disk space (they are not file duplicates) so this costs me nothing. And it has the advantage over a history list of allowing me to compare the two versions to see which I prefer.

It most likely will never have a "History" feature.

This baffled me for months. I gradually came round to understand and appreciate the Aperture way. The key to my understanding was learning that Aperture processes Adjustments to Masters in a fixed order (set, presumably, with sophistication and wisdom). For me, this was free-ing: the final image wasn't the result of an often circuitous, sometimes twisted path (the history of my adjustments) -- it was the result of direct processing of parameters I'd set (at that point in my experience, carelessly). Those setting were immediately viewable in the Bricks panel. The order in which I'd set them suddenly became totally unimportant. The image -- and the Adjustments used to produce it -- was central. The path I'd taken to get there was ... unimportant.

Aperture is, in almost all the places I've looked, image-centric (a "history" list is process centered).

This is, in my opinion (from relatively sophisticated use), brilliant and tremendously useful.

For practical use, Frank has summed it up nicely: make all the Versions you need. Create and delete them as needed (hundreds a day if it helps your work). I've added a "Comment" field to all my metadata views. I use this to leave notes to myself. I can see where this needn't be added as a program default -- but I think many who use Aperture to develop their digital negatives will find it useful.

The one thing I'd love to see added to Aperture is a distinction between Development Stacks (Versions from the same Masters) and Pick Stacks (different exposures Stacked to, ultimately, select one and not select any of the others). This would remove several snags in my workflow.