In Tools|Options, privacy section.
Make sure that you are set to keep the history. Near the top, Conservation rule must be set to "keep history" or "personalised rules".
You can open the hystory pannel using "Ctrl + H" keyboard shortcut. It will toggle the history display on and off.
("Ctrl + B" will open the Bookmarks side pannel and "Ctrl + D" will set a new bookmark)
In the menu: Display|Side pannel|History
Also in the menu, there is an History item next to display.
Setting the retention to 1000 days (almost 3 years) is rather ridiculous. About 1 month to 2 (30 to 64 days) is normaly more than enough.
Electro
May 2011