A child looks out from a bus window after fleeing from Ukraine to Romania, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border crossing in Siret, Romania, March 13, 2022. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

A member of indigenous peoples and organizations linked to indigenous movements are holding a demonstration in the center of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, 30 May 2023. Indigenous people protested against a bill that is being processed in Congress that could make it difficult to demarcate native lands. (Photo by Raphael Alves/EPA/EFE)

Janus, a two-headed Greek turtle named after the Roman god with two heads is testing a kind of skateboard to rehabilitate one day ahead of her 25th birthday at the Natural History Museum in Geneva on September 2, 2022. (Photo by Pierre Albouy/Reuters)

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, American actress Anne Hathaway and American actress and singer Zendaya attend the “Bulgari Mediterranea High Jewelry” event at Palazzo Ducale on May 16, 2023 in Venice. (Photo by Pietro S. D'Aprano/Getty Images for Bulgari)

A volunteer in the Kurdish Community Protection Forces guards wheat fields from fire or looting around the town of Tarbesbeyeh, also known as al-Qahtaniyah in Arabic, in northeastern Syria's Hasakeh Governorate near the Turkish border on May 30, 2024. (Photo by Delil Souleiman/AFP 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.

Fat Jew makes his entrance at the first birthday party for White Girl Rosé hosted by Elite Daily at The Dream Downtown, Sunday, July 17, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Diane Bondareff/Invision for White Girl Rosé/AP Images)

A woman wears a mask while carrying a dog in the street on January 22, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. A new infectious coronavirus known as “2019-nCoV” was discovered in Wuhan as the number of cases rose to over 400 in mainland China. Health officials stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease which medicals experts confirmed can be passed from human to human. The death toll has reached 17 people as the Wuhan government issued regulations today that residents must wear masks in public places. Cases have been reported in other countries including the United States, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. (Photo by Getty Images/China Stringer Network)