This picture taken on April 5, 2022 shows a train travelling along a bridge past cherry blossoms in Tokyo's Shinagawa district. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

A macaque crosses a pedestrian overpass in Hong Kong, China, 08 November 2021. According the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, AFCD, the total population of wild monkeys in Hong Kong is about 1,800, distributed in 30 social troops. (Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA/EFE)

A girl looks on after a fire broke out in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 11, 2020. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

A girl walks an Akita-inu dog dressed in a military uniform in Vladivostok, Russia on April 9, 2019. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)

In this September 9, 2018 photo, a diver holds onto his catch of lobsters during a fishing journey in the Miskito coast near Cay Savannah, Honduras. A diver makes 75 lempiras ($3) per pound of lobster. An average 10-pound daily haul of lobster is a windfall for people in one of the most impoverished regions of the Americas, so many take the risk, and many suffer for it. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

A woman whose livelihood depends on selling recyclable wastes collects trash from a dumping site while surrounded by Marabou storks on the outskirts of Uganda's capital Kampala March 31, 2015. (Photo by James Akena/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 man strikes a pose in front of a giant torta, or sandwich, during a press conference to promote the 13th annual Torta Festival, in Mexico City, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. The five day festival presents a variety of the Mexican street food made from the most exotic ingredients that include ostrich or stingray, to the classic ham, grilled steak or slow cooked pork. The festival's purpose is to maintain the tradition of eating tortas, and promote the vendors of the Mexican sandwich. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)