Loading...
Done
Ocean voyage

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.
Details
14 Nov 2011 09:11:00
Somali couple Mohamed Noor (L) and Huda Omar pose for a photograph at their makeshift home during their wedding ceremony in Mogadishu's Rajo camp, Somalia August 17, 2016. Having met two years ago, the pair have just married at Rajo camp, where some 400 families live. Most, like Noor's parents, came here in the early 1990s to flee famine. They stayed on as years of conflict ravaged the Horn of Africa nation. As at any wedding, there is plenty of dancing and sweet treats for the young couple as they start married life in Noor's simple home, made of iron and plastic sheets. Noor works as a mason with his father. Others here are builders or sell sweets, nuts and stick toothbrushes to make money. Some beg around the seaside city, which like the rest of Somalia has been gripped by violence since the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

Somali couple Mohamed Noor (L) and Huda Omar pose for a photograph at their makeshift home during their wedding ceremony in Mogadishu's Rajo camp, Somalia August 17, 2016. Having met two years ago, the pair have just married at Rajo camp, where some 400 families live. Most, like Noor's parents, came here in the early 1990s to flee famine. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)
Details
14 Sep 2016 10:35:00
Children pour cold water on themselves under the control of fitness coach Margarita Filimonova (R) at local kindergarten number 317, with the air temperature at about minus 23 degrees Celsius (minus 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit), in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, February 5, 2013. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Children pour cold water on themselves under the control of fitness coach Margarita Filimonova (R) at local kindergarten number 317, with the air temperature at about minus 23 degrees Celsius (minus 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit), in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, February 5, 2013. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).
Details
17 Feb 2013 15:40:00
A supporter of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, with a doll depicting late Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on his hat, reacts as he stands at the Plaza Bolivar near the building housing the National Assembly in Caracas, January 5, 2016. (Photo by Christian Veron/Reuters)

A supporter of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, with a doll depicting late Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on his hat, reacts as he stands at the Plaza Bolivar near the building housing the National Assembly in Caracas, January 5, 2016. (Photo by Christian Veron/Reuters)
Details
07 Jan 2016 08:00:00
Tourists take a panoramic view of Kuala Lumpur from a skybox during a media preview at Kuala Lumpur Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 05 May 2016. Skybox, 421 metres above ground level will be the latest tourists attraction at Kuala Lumpur Tower, the 7th tallest freestanding tower in the world. (Photo by Ahmad Yusni/EPA)

Tourists take a panoramic view of Kuala Lumpur from a skybox during a media preview at Kuala Lumpur Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 05 May 2016. Skybox, 421 metres above ground level will be the latest tourists attraction at Kuala Lumpur Tower, the 7th tallest freestanding tower in the world. (Photo by Ahmad Yusni/EPA)
Details
06 May 2016 14:01:00
Participants of an unauthorized opposition rally gather in Tverskaya street in central Moscow on June 12, 2017. Authorities detained Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and hundreds of his supporters on Monday, as they mounted demonstrations across the nation against government corruption. Over 200 were detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg an hour into the protest, according to an NGO that tracks arrests, with Navalny himself picked up by police in his building as he was headed to the event. (Photo by Vasily Maximov/AFP Photo)

Participants of an unauthorized opposition rally gather in Tverskaya street in central Moscow on June 12, 2017. Authorities detained Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and hundreds of his supporters on Monday, as they mounted demonstrations across the nation against government corruption. Over 200 were detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg an hour into the protest, according to an NGO that tracks arrests, with Navalny himself picked up by police in his building as he was headed to the event. (Photo by Vasily Maximov/AFP Photo)
Details
13 Jun 2017 08:34:00
“Hippo Chase”. As we approached the camp the Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana our boat passed by a hippo resting in the water. I turned around to look back at the boat's wake and saw the hippo charging after us! The hippo must've been tired from an all-nighter because he was angry. (Photo and caption by Curtis Simmons/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Hippo Chase”. As we approached the camp the Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana our boat passed by a hippo resting in the water. I turned around to look back at the boat's wake and saw the hippo charging after us! The hippo must've been tired from an all-nighter because he was angry. He rose way up out of the water three times trying to chase our boat! He was coming at us with such force that he created a wake of his own. Photo location: Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana. (Photo and caption by Curtis Simmons/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Details
06 Nov 2014 08:59:00
Sara Moni, dressed as the World of Warcraft's Sinestra, poses for photographers on day three of the Comic-Con International held at the San Diego Convention Center Saturday July 23, 2016 in San Diego.  (Photo by Denis Poroy/Invision/AP Photo)

Sara Moni, dressed as the World of Warcraft's Sinestra, poses for photographers on day three of the Comic-Con International held at the San Diego Convention Center Saturday July 23, 2016 in San Diego. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Invision/AP Photo)
Details
25 Jul 2016 11:23:00