History happens largely as a result of what people do.  Certain people happen, and create a new reality.  Certain people cause things to happen.

An example of people who happen would be a person who is born into a certain family, such as a royal family.  This person did not cause anything on purpose.  It can also be a person who acts by mistake, and changes the course of history.  Another example might be Oppenheimer and the atom bomb.  Sometimes you don’t really know what effect your actions will have on history.

Other people intend to change history.  Adolf Hitler is an example.  He sought out to change history, and he did so.  He might not have left he legacy he intended, but he certainly left his mark on the world.

Does history result from individuals' actions, or do events shape the individuals?

This is completely a matter of opinion since there is no way that we can ever know for sure what might have happened if, for example, a different person had been president at some particular time.  However, I would argue that history is the result of both of these.

Let's look at the case of Osama bin Laden and 9/11.  Clearly, bin Laden was the person behind the terrorist attacks of that day.  In this sense, we can say that history was made by his actions.  On the other hand, though, bin Laden was "created" by events as well.  If it had not been for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (and the US support for the Mujahideen fighting that invasion) bin Laden would never (you can argue) have had the chance to form Al Qaeda and launch those attacks.

So this is really an imponderable question.  We cannot know for sure, but it seems to me that both explanations have merit.