General view of festival goers at the main stage on Day 3 of Download festival at Donnington Park on June 12, 2022 in Donnington, England. (Photo by Chris Bethell/The Guardian)

In this photo provided by NASA, the sample return capsule from NASA's Osiris-Rex mission lies on the ground shortly after touching down in the desert, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range on Sunday, September 24, 2023. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020. (Photo by Keegan Barber/NASA via AP Photo)

A group of prospective police recruits, ready to be enrolled in the M23 controlled force, salute in the courtyard of a police station in Goma on February 6, 2025. More than a week after the battle for the North Kivu provincial capital, the M23 on Wednesday appointed people to public positions. Goma now has two officials for many public posts – two mayors, two governors – which locals said has created confusion. The M23 administration is still in its embryonic stages and struggling to respond to daily problems in the war-wounded city. (Photo by Michel Lunanga/AFP Photo)

Spanish bullfighter Manuel Jesus “El Cid” is seen through a small window of a door as he performs a pass to a heifer during a “tentadero” (a small bullfight to check the bravery of calves and heifers which are not killed) during the first International Biennial of bullfighting at Reservatauro Ronda cattle ranch in Ronda, near Malaga February 17, 2013. Spain's parliament voted last Tuesday to consider protecting bullfighting as a national pastime, angering animal rights campaigners and politicians in two regions where the sport is banned. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

A girl applies henna patterns on her hands while waiting for customers, ahead of Eid al-Fitr celebrations, in Karachi, Pakistan on April 9, 2024. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

London Fashion Week makeup artist Val Garland in the first decade of September 2025 has created the definitive airport look ahead of Fashion Week, designed for long haul travel and inspired by Heathrow. Made entirely with cosmetics available in Heathrow’s World Duty Free beauty offering, passengers will have a chance to get the look themselves, as well as other immersive experiences as part of the Redefine Your Beauty campaign. (Photo by Daniel Lewis/Heathrow)

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.

Ten segments of the Berlin Wall, which constitute the longest stretch outside of Berlin, are seen on display in Los Angeles, California September 18, 2014. On November 9, Germany will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. To mark the event Reuters Photographers around the world captured images of segments of the wall, which are kept as monuments in many countries from Taiwan to South Africa and Costa Rica. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)