My math teacher taught me not only calculus, but also when and who got up to what. It doesn't have to take a long time, but a bit of context helps a lot. Euler went to Russia and yada yada bridges graphs etc.
Same goes for all science disciplines. You need to have a rough idea that Darwin worked in the 19th century, that much of thermo came about in the late 19th century, that quantum is a 20th century thing. You need to know what people were wondering about, and what experiments they came up with.
I've been listening to a lot of audio courses lately, and those little nuggets really help to understand things.
The point of the little stories such as how Watson and Crick came up with the double helix is to help recall. It's hard to remember dry facts, much easier to remember stories. People are kinda built that way.
Edit: I really don't care how much I get downvoted, I'm going to highlight its uselessness until someone cares to justify it.