Employees conduct a final check to fix any cavities in the seams of balls inside the soccer ball factory that produces official match balls for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, in Sialkot, Punjab province May 16, 2014. It was when he felt the roar of the crowd at the 2006 World Cup in Germany that Pakistani factory owner Khawaja Akhtar first dreamt up a goal of his own: to manufacture the ball for the biggest soccer tournament on the planet. Last year he finally got his chance – but only 33 days to make it happen. (Photo by Sara Farid/Reuters)

In this picture taken on September 5, 2023, students practice contortionism at the Flower Studio in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolian circus performers fly through the air of a cavernous hall inspectors have warned could collapse at any time, one of the few places left to train if they hope to travel the world with their country's spectacular big top shows. (Photo by Pedro Pardo/AFP Photo)

Without the use of any type of scuba equipment, divers descend to great depths armed with underwater guns, harpoons and strong line to stalk and hunt prey. Some of the best free-divers in the world can hold their breath for up to 5 minutes under water and go to depths greater than 100 feet.

(All photography © Eyeconic Images.)

“Self-educated photographer, Quebec. I always impassioned myself for the animal world and natural spaces, in particular for the red squirrels and the titmouses. Having reached sixty and more, I am nothing any more has to prove but all has to show”. – Andre Villeneuve. Photo: “Eat and run”. (Photo by Andre Villeneuve)

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.

An employee in a bookshop adjusts packaged cigarettes which have to be sold in identical olive-brown packets bearing the same typeface and largely covered with graphic health warnings, with the same style of writing so the only identifier of a brand will be the name on the packet, in Sydney on December 1, 2012. A new world-first law forcing tobacco companies to sell cigarettes in identical packets came into effect Saturday in Australia in an effort to strip any glamour from smoking and prevent young people from taking up the habit. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

In this Thursday, May 25, 2017 photo, Donte, a musician who only gave his first name, straightens out dollar bills on his first day in a brand new Chewbacca costume purchased from eBay for $441, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Donte said he replaced the old one because he wasn't making any money with it. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows two island foxes in Channel Islands National Park, Calif. Three fox subspecies native to California's Channel Islands were removed from the list of endangered species Thursday, August 11, 2016, in what federal officials have called the fastest recovery of any mammal listed under the Endangered Species Act. (Photo by Chuck Graham/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP Photo)