A youth rolls a hoop in the National Theater where families displaced by gang violence are taking shelter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 9, 2024. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/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.

Saudi female firearm trainer, Mona Al Khurais, teaches a Saudi boy on safe usage of weapons at the Top-Gun shooting range in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 28, 2021. (Photo by Ahmed Yosri/Reuters)

Voodoo believers carry dead goats during a ceremony of Fet Gede in a Peristil, a voodoo temple, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, November 2, 2016. (Photo by Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters)

Concertgoers dance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, U.S., April 15, 2018. Coachella became one of the world' s premier music festivals not only for the A- list performers. The two- weekend party in the California desert has become a major event in its own right for the fashion. While designers have heavily marketed their brands to Coachella, the fans who draw the most notice often do so by embracing their own sartorial flair, driven by a sense of innovation and, among revelers in the searing heat, of inhibition. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

In this image released on October 2, Bella Hadid is seen backstage during Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 presented by Amazon Prime Video at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on October 2, 2020. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

People perform during this year's flashmob of silly walks, based on the sketch from the television show Monty Python's Flying Circus by Monty Python troup, in Budapest, Hungary, 01 April 2019. (Photo by Zoltán Balogh/EPA/EFE)

Gold medallists of China perform Synchronised Swimming Free Combination routine at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center during the 17th Asian Games in Incheon September 23, 2014. (Photo by Tim Wimborne/Reuters)