How can something be a contribution to the past and the present

A Contribution is Something that Creates a Common Understanding and Helps Contribute to Society in Some Form.

Explanation:

History is like a puzzle, it helps create long term effects and short term effects that can help solve the puzzle. An artifact, a revolutionary scientific experiment, or a discovery, etc, can be a contribution to the past and the present. It can both have long term and short term effects. It helps society understand more about the past and how that something may have helped the past. Let's say that there was an ancient civilization, there wasn't much evidence that this civilization lived. Let's say hypothetically, a research team found an important discovery like a child's toy that shaped history and created a domino-like effect as to why that civilization impacted our culture/community today. The toy helped create entertainment for civilization. The toy from that civilization helps us understand and think about when/where the civilization could have lived, were they an advanced civilization, did they have their own society or tribe, were they advanced enough to understand the concepts of entertainment and fun? That's the kind of thing that makes something a contribution. Discoveries can also provide evidence of something like cold cases. Let's say we found out who/what exposed Anne Frank's family, that would impact the past and the present. That would be a major contribution because it would be the solution to a decades-long mystery and it would help bring justice to the family. Another example, what if scientists found in an alternate planet where an advanced society lived? Like Homo-Sapiens lived, that would impact both past and present due to the formation of the planet and if it provides answers to how our planet formed. It would also be an important discovery for future research. Much of history is a contribution to the past and the present. *This might be my understanding*