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.

Russian servicewomen march during the Victory Day Parade in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, June 24, 2020. The military parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, was scheduled for May 9 but postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (Photo by Sergey Pyatakov/Host Photo Agency/AFP Photo)

A child uses an umbrella to avoid rain falling on a fire at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Monday, April 25, 2016. Many thousands of migrants remain at the Greek border with Macedonia, hoping that the border crossing will reopen, allowing them to move north into central Europe. (Photo by Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo)

A Fulton Hotshot lights a controlled burn on the so-called “Rough Fire” in the Sequoia National Forest, California, August 21, 2015. In California, suffering its worst drought on record, about 2,500 people were forced to flee Christian camps east of Fresno at Hume Lake as the so-called Rough Fire crossed Highway 180, officials said. (Photo by Max Whittaker/Reuters)

Gertrude “Billie” Murphy, 22, is brought in for questioning in the murder case of Michael Stopec, who was shot and killed in an apartment hotel, circa July 1927. Murphy had been friends of the married Stopec and his suspected killer Henry Guardino, 31. It is said that Stopec and Guardino were “bitter rivals for the favor of Billie” and that Murphy had tired of Guardino and was going to stay with Stopec. Murphy was also married to a man in the Joliet penitentiary. (Photo by Chicago Herald & Examiner Historical Photo)

Members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard stand by at St. Peter's Square before Pope Francis delivers his traditional Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi speech to the city and the world from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, December 25, 2021. (Photo by Yara Nardi/Reuters)

The Rio dry cargo ship that has ran aground during a storm in December 2018 in Kabardinka, Krasnodar Territory, Russia on August 11, 2020. The vessel has become a tourist attraction of the region. (Photo by Alexander Ryumin/TASS)

Models sit backstage during an outdoor show at Dakar Fashion week on December 12, 2020 just outside Dakar, Senegal. With Senegal's low incidence of Covid-19, Dakar's marquee fashion event looked markedly more normal than its counterparts in other global capitals, whose fashion weeks were heavily curtailed or canceled. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/Getty Images)