Okay, I know it may sounds silly but I just can't get this question out of my head.
So one of the functions of simple present tense is to state general truths. Like, "The sun rises from the east," or "Bikes have two tires," or the most simple thing like, "That is a book." Okay, my question is, aren't events that happened in the past are also general truths? I mean they're already happened so we can see them as facts. So why can't we use simple present when talking about things in the past?
For example. Why we write "WWII lasted from 1939 to 1945" instead of "WWII lasts from 1939 to 1945"? I mean, it's the fact (truth) that WWII lasted (i'm sticking with simple past here) from 1939 to 1945. I know we have to use simple past tense here but I want to know the reason why we can't use simple present tense.
Very silly question imo, but I'm sorry, no matter how I think (and search) about it i can't get the answer.