Protesting university students flee as police fire stun grenades outside Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday October 21, 2015. The protests are part of a wave of nationwide protests that have shut down many South Africa universities, which say they are struggling with higher operational costs as well as inadequate state subsidies. (Photo by AP Photo)

Migrants rush as they try to get on a train heading to the border with Serbia at the train station of Gevgelija, on the Macedonian-Greek border, on August 9, 2015. Non-EU Serbia's frontier with Hungary, which is in the bloc's passport-free Schengen zone, has become a major crossing point for the huge numbers of migrants entering the EU. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

Winter swimmers dressed in ballet costumes pose for a photo before diving into the icy water, during a snowfall at a park in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

Ratana Das, 40, a female vendor, carries sacks full of clothes at a second-hand clothing market early morning in Kolkata, India, March 10, 2016. Das said she was born and brought up in Kolkata and feels proud being a resident of the city that gives her he opportunity to be financially independent. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/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 tourist takes a selfie with pelicans on the bench in St. James's Park in Westminster, central London on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Marcin Nowak/London News Pictures)

Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, play as they soak in a hot spring in Jigokudani valley in Nagano Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Photo by Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo)

Goose, a nine-month-old cat, sits in a backpack as people gather during a Speak Out Against Sexual Violence demonstration at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, U.S., March 28, 2021. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Reuters)