A boat sails behind a woman looking through binoculars as she sits on a cliff on a sunny day in Sydney, Australia, May 29, 2016. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

Do you think that history is a science? Well, not exactly. First, and foremost, history is the state's “legend of wars”, it’s official regalia. Of course, public historians are not interested in scientific truth – quite the opposite. In this respect, any attempt to present a state’s history as altruistic and benevolent as possible is welcomed and encouraged – as opposed to any revisionism attempts that may be more accurate. In this matter, Chinese have surpassed us all – they revised in highly creative manner (but rather shamelessly) the technology already invented by Europeans, a process that resulted in oldest state on the planet. Here is an interesting paradox: ask any sinologist about the Middle Kingdom during second century B.C., and he will describe it to you in such a vivid manner as if he has been living there all his life – but as soon as you will ask him to describe Chinese history in the 19-20th centuries… let's say, his eagerness will be greatly diminished. However, we will discuss China in a different article, and in the meantime we will try to understand how exactly historic “legend of wars” is formed and functions – based on a specific and well-known example. A great example is Ferdinand Magellan's first voyage around the world.

A woman holding a girl walks as police officers block the street during a rally called by the opposition leader Raila Odinga who claims the last Kenyan presidential election was stolen from him and blames the government for the hike of living costs in Kibera, Nairobi on March 27, 2023. Police fired tear gas to disperse anti-government protests on March 27, 2023 over the high cost of living, after the opposition vowed demonstrations would go ahead despite a police ban. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

In this Thursday, May 24, 2018, photograph, artists of Ukraine's Artel Myth theatre perform “A day in the life of Ukrainians” at the Living Statues International Festival, in Bucharest, Romania. Up to thirty thousand people enjoyed a week of street performances by reputed artists from eight countries in the “largest European festival of the genre”. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Patrick Scolaro and Cory Sullivan of Boca Raton playfully duke it out wearing masks that were handed out to attendees of the Rock the Vote concert at Mizner Park after the debate. (Photo by Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post)

Wedges of an orange generate enough current and electrical juice – 3.5 volts – to power an LED. The fruit’s citric acid helps electrons flow from galvanized nails to copper wire in this 14-hour exposure. This image was published in September’s Visions of Earth, a trio of photos that appear in each issue of National Geographic. (Photo by Caleb Charland/National Geographic)

“People of the River”. This is a Karo tribe family; father, mother, two sisters and two brothers. The tribe, who live along the Omo River in east Africa, incorporate rich symbolism into their rituals by using ornate body art, headdresses and body scarification to express beauty and significance. (Photo by Jatenipat Ketpradit/International Portrait Photographer of the Year)

A mock-up of a typical British suburban home is seen sinking into the River Thames, in a protest by Extinction Rebellion to demand faster government action on climate change in London, Britain on November 10, 2019. (Photo by Extinction Rebellion/Handout via Reuters)