Why is a knowledge of history associated with intelligence?

I’m pretty confident in my ability to memorize a fact or a date just as well as the next guy. However, history as a subject of study.. just never really intrigued me. If anything, I found having to keep up with specific facts and dates to be nothing more than an irritation. So, conventional “American History” or “European History,” or even a general history of the world.. have kind of alienated me. I’m just no longer interested. I’m more interested in the history of music, but that’s because I have a passion for music in general.

So, what I’m wondering is this.. why is a general knowledge of history associated with intelligence? Why is it that “intelligent” people are expected to have a knowledge of history? I’m supposing that it could be a trend.. people who enjoy history may tend to be intelligent, or intelligent people may tend to enjoy history. If that’s a part of the case, then what’s so captivating about the subject? What am I missing, and why am I missing it?