Associated Press photographer Evgeniy Maloletka points at the smoke rising after an airstrike on a maternity hospital, in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. (Photo by Mstyslav Chernov/AP Photo)

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 participant in the Crazy Races extreme sports game competes in the cross-country obstacle race in Ufa, Russia on September 21, 2015. (Photo by TASS/Barcroft Media)

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej in serious portrait January 01, 1960. Thailand's Royal Palace said on Thursday, October 13, 2016, that Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died at age 88. (Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

St Andrews University students skinny dip in the sea as May Day celebrations in St Andrews, Scotland on April 30, 2017. Hundreds of revellers ditched their clothes and bravely jumped into the bitterly cold North Sea. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photos)

Two cocks are trained for a fight in a village in Nakhon Sawan province, Thailand January 10, 2017. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

People enjoy the beach as they look at a forest fire in La Croix-Valmer, near Saint-Tropez, on July 25, 2017. Firefighters battle blazes that have consumed swathes of land in southeastern France for a second day, with one inferno out of control near the chic resort of Saint-Tropez, emergency services say. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

A girl practices martial arts during a training at a school in Syrian opposition-held village of al-Jeineh, Syria on April 11, 2021. (Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)