Clear History in "Today" Folder in Finder

[mbp9]

I am new to my Mac and want to know who to clear the history in my "Today" folder in Finder. To be clear, I don't want to remove the Today folder but just clear the contents of the applications that I have opened.

On a side note, I would also like to know how to set up finder so that the "Today" folder won't show that I have opened anything (rather then having to go back and remove the history after the fact).

Any help is much appreciated, Thanks!

 

[mbp9]

if anyone is interested i figured out the answer to my question...

drag the applications that were opened into trash and then drag them from trash into the applications folder.

They will be removed form the Today folder but not permanently deleted.