History matters because it helps us as an individual and as a society to understand why our society is the way they are and what they value.
As Professor Penelope J Corfield says “Why on earth does it matter? what happened long ago? The answer is: History is inescapable. It reads the past and the legacies of the past in the present. Far from being a ‘dead’ subject, it connects things through time and encourages us to take a long view of such connections. All people/s are living histories. To take a few obvious examples: communities speak languages that are inherited from the past or we can say history. They live in societies with complex cultures, traditions, and religions that have not been created on the spur of the moment. People consume technologies that they have not themselves invented. So understanding the connection between the past and the present is basic for a better understanding of the condition of being human. That, in a nutshell, is why History matters. It is not just ‘useful’, it is essential.”
Let’s discover what happened on July 6 in world history:
Today’s Highlights in History: On July 6, 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur tested an anti-rabies vaccine on 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been bitten by an infected dog; the boy did not develop rabies.
1942: Holland Anne Frank
When Anne’s sister, Margot, was faced with deportation (supposedly to a forced-laborcamp), the Franks went into hiding on July 6, 1942, in the backroom office and warehouse of Otto Frank’s food-products business. With the help of a few non-Jewish friends, among them, MiepGies, who smuggled in food and other supplies, the Frank family and four other Jews—Hermann and Auguste van Pels and their son, Peter, and Fritz Pfeffer—lived confined to the “secret annex.” During this time, Anne wrote faithfully in her diary, recounting day-to-day life in hiding, from ordinary annoyances to the fear of capture. She discussed typical adolescent problems as well as her hopes for the future, which included becoming a journalist or a writer.
1998: UK Viagra on the NHS
The arguments over the NHS making Viagra available on the NHS continues to increase, Viagra the impotence pill for men costs £18 per pill and the number of patients requesting it could run into the 100’s of thousands which could put more strain on the already stretched budget of the British Health Service. In January 1999 the NHS did allow a very restricted number of patients access and as the pressure increased more men were allowed access.
Reference: www.thepeoplehistory.com, wtop.com
