I recently read "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children" and the whole basis of the story is about the past and present. When you use historical events in fiction, you have the possibility to do a lot things! You could place a character in the past, and create a story for him/her with a base to start with, like setting and time period. "Timeless" is a popular show about time travel and how they change the course of history through their actions. There are so many possibilities to using historical times and events for fiction. Also, another example is movies or books based on the past like the Titanic.