Coco Gauff's hand during her second round Australian Open match against Emma Raducanu at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia on January 18, 2023. (Photo by Hannah Mckay/Reuters)

A woman wearing traditional clothes reacts as men throw water at her during a traditional Easter celebration in Holloko, Hungary on April 10, 2023. (Photo by Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)

Kai Havertz of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the team's first goal during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Arsenal FC at Gtech Community Stadium on November 25, 2023 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Canada's Charity Williams, left, is tackled by United States' Alex Sedrick, center, and Naya Tapper during a Vancouver Sevens women's rugby match Saturday, February 24, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photo by Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP Photo)

A gosling sits in the plumage of its mother, in a meadow in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Probst/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.

Photographer and editor with Reuters for 22 years, Andrew Winning has died of brain cancer at the age of 49. Here: Elite special police run for cover after gunfire was heard from inside the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, January 27, 1997. At the moment the shots were fired, police were parading past the residence in a show of force, and helicopters were flying above. Earlier, several armored personnel carriers rolled past the compound. Tupac Amaru rebels had seized the diplomatic compound December 17 and held 72 hostages. (Photo by Andrew Winning/Reuters)