UK Big Brother star Chloe Khan washes her Land Rover wearing a bikini and hot pants in Borehamwood, England on September 22, 2016. (Photo by Palace Lee)

Andrea Ramirez of Colombia, left, and Virginia Dellan of Venezuela, right, compete during their women's - 49kg Taekwondo final match of the Bolivarian Games in Valledupar, Colombia, Sunday, July 3, 2022. Ramirez won the gold medal. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

A Bull Frog hops around as Carlos Costly #13 of Honduras brings the ball up against the USA at Sun Life Stadium on October 8, 2011 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

A man takes a picture of sea spray as storms hit Cape Town, South Africa, June 7, 2017. (Photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters)

The Philly Phanatic has fun with a fan during game four of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 22, 2022. (Photo by Kyle Ross/USA TODAY Sports)

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 student falls asleep as she holds a book containing a portrait of China's late chairman Mao Zedong during a lesson at the Democracy Elementary and Middle School in Sitong town, Henan province December 3, 2013. In a remote part of central China, the day starts at the Democracy Elementary and Middle School with a pre-dawn jog, some revolutionary songs and then an activity long since forgotten at other schools: reciting quotations from Mao Zedong's famed “Little Red Book”. While the ruling Communist Party that Mao led continues to hold him in esteem as the leader of the Communist Revolution, his radical policies and teachings have been largely shelved since his death in 1976 in favour of a pro-market approach that has turned China from a backwater into the world's second biggest economy. The 120th anniversary of Mao's birth is on December 26, 2013. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

A Thai performer puts his head inside a crocodile's mouth during a media preview performance as part of preparation to reopen Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 19 March 2024. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)