I'm not one of those types.
From my perspective, history serves two vital roles;
(1) To celebrate the accomplishments of past successes or remember the losses of past tragedies
(2) To learn lessons valuable for decisions of the present.
As a sport-loving Canadian, two pretty cool things happened on December 4th in history:
(A) The first CFL Grey Cup was awarded in 1909 when the University of Toronto Blues defeated the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club 26-6 at Rosedale Field, preserving the Blues undefeated record, and enshrining the Grey Cup as the crowning achievement of Canadian Football.
Some interesting notes regarding the Grey Cup include a transformation from what Gov Earl Grey desired as an amateur championship to its present form as the championship of the CFL, Canada's professional football league, and a change in direction from the original focus on rugby to its present focus on the football Canadians envision when they hear the word. In the early years from 1909 to 1924 (minus the years during WW1), university teams were invariably the Grey Cup champions. From 1925 to 1945 the representatives from senior city leagues were supreme, and they continued to contest the cup until the early 1950s, when the professional teams that later comprised the CFL began to dominate. Interestingly, in 1962, the Grey Cup became an instrument of national unity when Parliament forced the hand of the Canadian televisions networks to make the game available so that the entire country could watch, a decision that has made the game consistently one of the nation's highest-rated programs.
(B) The oldest still-operating NHL franchise was established when J. Ambrose O'Brien and Jack Laviolette created the "Club de Hockey Canadien", or as it is better known these days, the Montreal Canadiens.
I am not really a hockey guy, but if pressed, I would admit that I cheer for the Boston Bruins to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup each season, a fact that is a consequence of a bet lost to my father many years ago when the Blanc, Bleu et Rouge squared off against the Bruins in the 1971 semifinals. Les Canadien won, and my object of my hockey fanaticism was forever cemented, much like my head as it would turn out, considering their prolonged periods of futility over my life. I shouldn't be too hard on the Bruins though, Montreal has had more than their fair share of success, winning more cups than any other NHL franchise with 24 in all, and at least one every decade from 1910 to 1990. Montreal also boasts consistency, being the only NHL franchise to win 5 Stanley Cups in a row from 1956-1960. After winning 4 out of 5 years from 1965-1969 (spoiled by the Maple Laughs ... I am a Bruins fan remember ... in 1967), and 4 in a row from 1976-1979, they amassed an immensely impressive 10 cups in 15 years. 44 of the Canadien's players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Learning lessons from the past to make great decisions for the present is, IMHO, the single biggest reason to study historical events. As George Santayana is quoted with saying, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Using the lessons of the past to bolster the decisions of the present is highly recommended, not only to prevent egregious error, but to better understand the potential consequences of today's decisions. We humans are a vicious lot, extinguishing both each other and the natural world with alarming regularity and sweeping finality. We don't have to think very hard or look very far to find events from the past that could grant us wisdom for the present ... climate change, pandemics, social revolt, or ecology to site a few ... but I fear deeply that we are collectively failing.
The web site History Today provides an interesting read with its post on a historical turning point (https://www.historytoday.com/archive/making-history/historic-turning-point), posing the question, "Will historians see 2020 as the peak of a global crisis – or will the world continue on its perilous course?" Author Suzannah Lipscomb, a Professor of History at the University of Roehampton and published author, poses some powerfully spiced thoughts that certainly weigh heavily on the minds of many, asking the question if we are collectively ready to learn from our past grievances. Even if you don't agree with her, she makes you pause and contemplate the things that you think you know.
No, the study of history is NOT a waste of time.
It is an integral to civilization's survival as oxygen is to our's.
It's not too late to make a good decision about that.
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