Histograms are used to graphically represent the distribution of data by dividing it into intervals and counting the frequency of data points within each interval. To construct a histogram, the data is divided into bins of equal width and a frequency table is made listing the count in each bin. The bins are then graphed on the x-axis with their corresponding frequencies on the y-axis. Patterns in histograms can reveal the center, shape, spread and skewness of the distribution through characteristics like peaks, symmetry, outliers and the range of values.