There have been a few great threads on this subject; here's one, and here's my response explaining why a history background can be a good feeder to law school.

History continues to be a great introduction to the skills you need to succeed in law school and as a lawyer. It's also a good opportunity to confront historical "questions": I just wrote a brief, for example, arguing that an omission in a relevant statute, and the drafting history ("legislative history"), indicate that the legislature believed the issue should be resolved in our favor. If you get more advanced and complicated cases, you can expect to have to read and write frequently about the constitutional and federal structure, and issues like the separation of powers. All of those questions require a good grasp of history.

One caveat: not everyone with an interest in history will like being a lawyer, and you want to be damn sure you will like being a lawyer before applying to law school. Since 2008, it's no longer a field where you can coast into a job paying $100,000+, even if you're from a top law school. You have to work at it, and that means you have to really embrace and enjoy the field.

If you really care about the law and history, though, you can have a very successful and intellectually satisfying career.

TL;DR: Go to law school, read all of the books, be a better lawyer for it. But don't go just for the status or for money.

Jobs as historians are limited but those with history degrees can do well. The bottom line is more PHDs are minted every year than job openings so most people who pursue history academically will not teach it on a college level.

When I was in investment banking the managing director I worked for had a degree in art history and made $250k base plus several times that in bonus. My wife passed on going to a lower Tier PHD program and later got a MBA & CPA and makes a very good income. I personally know more than a few full time authors who have a degree in history.

There's been a recant resurgence in an idea that was well-respected in the 1980s: Personnel with arts degrees often do better in technical fields than those with STEM educations. The problem with the latter is that they may not see that their own industry exists for human goals and is staffed by people with human needs. A person with arts degree but who works in an engineering field often produces as good or better results with far less non-productive drama. This is not to denigrate STEM education, but it's common that STEM graduates often make poor supervisors. You will, of course, need to supplement your arts degree with math, science and technology study that you can pick up before or after you find a job in an industry of your choice at the lowest level and work your way up.

Teaching history at the high school level is very rewarding. Some high end prep schools expect teachers to have a Ph. D.

Another area where history degrees are valued is intelligence analysis. The CIA hires historians, especially folks who specialize in areas with few sources (Middle Ages, Eastern European history, etc). Here's an example. Some schools even let you minor in intelligence analysis and graduate with a security clearance (via internship).

Can you give me examples of what jobs are available? I want to broaden my knowledge of what I'm getting into

My wife was a medieval history major who then went into investment banking, from there to a hedge fund, and now works in corporate management. She's finishing up business school at the moment, and taking courses in business history.

If you're interested in jobs in finance or business, you'll need to develop your resume for those while in college, no matter what major you are. That means applying to prestigious internships, etc., which you can learn about from your school's career office. The good part of this is that these are possible no matter what your major.

A history major in particular will force you to write and research well, skills that can prove useful in finance or business jobs. In terms of direct applicability to finance or business, I don't think history is at the top of the list (I'd personally bet on engineering--economics is popular, but engineering skills are probably more valuable), but it's not at the bottom either.

The most important thing for a career in finance or business post-college is having good grades and accomplishments in college. It'll be easier to get A's in a subject you like and are good at. A's in history will get you much better jobs in finance or business than B's in economics or engineering.

Studied as Canadian historian. Now a public servent working in the finance section. Use my research and writing skills everyday.

History was one of my majors as an undergrad (the other being Economics). I ended up working as a legislative assistant to a congressman where I was in charge of some foreign affairs related issues (among other issues). My history degree came in handy in giving me a lot of background knowledge and context in understanding the origins of various current conflicts, especially conflicts that involve disputes dating back centuries.

Being an historian is hte obvious one, but of course if you ask around much you'll find that academic careers are going the way of the dodo. As a history professor I get this question often, and I always send people to the American Historical Society's "careers in history" page as a first stop.