I personally think that history is a very worthwhile pursuit. I am currently taking a degree in history and through widening my knowledge about the past, I feel that I've gained massive perspective about the way people think and the way people express themselves in the way that they do.

Here's something written by the American Historical Association as a start One important point is in my opinion that we need history to understand and be able to solve conflicts of the now, for example what lead to the development of fundamentalism in the Middle East and what lead to the temporary demise of democracy in the years leading up to WW2.