Several hundred swimmers took a sunrise dip in the North Sea at Portobello Beach, for the International Women’s Day Swimrise on March 08, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Women from all backgrounds, abilities and ages come together in aid of Edinburgh Women’s Aid, Edinburgh Rape Crisis and Held in Our Hearts. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

In this Sunday, March 2, 2014 photo, animal barber Mohamed Mahmoud shaves a customer's initials onto the rump of a donkey in Cairo, Egypt. Clients typically request for regular trims to keep animals cool in the summer, initials in English letters, and patterns – but sometimes they give Mahmoud full creative license. (Photo by Maya Alleruzzo/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.

A damaged vehicle is seen next to the ring road, around Skopje, near the village of Stajkovci, Skopje, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 08 August 2016. At least 21 people have died and more than 100 are injured in the heavy rain storm that hit the Macedonian capital Skopje late Saturday night causing severe damage to the roads and house infrastructure. More than 80 vehicles were hit by landslides at Skopje's ring road. The highway remains closed. The government announced a 15-day state of emergency in the Skopje and Tetovo region. (Photo by Georgi Licovski/EPA)

Tourists watch the sunrise and pray outside a church on the summit of Mount Moses, near the city of Saint Catherine, in the Sinai Peninsula, south of Egypt, December 9, 2015. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

A model waits backstage to present creations from the Fall-Winter 2021/2022 collection of the Georgiela Studio fashion brand during a young talents “EGO” fashion show on the last day of the 73rd Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid, in Madrid, Spain, 11 April 2021. The fashion event runs from 08 to 11 April. (Photo by Mariscal/EPA/EFE)

Alluvial Fan, China. A vast alluvial fan blossoms across the desolate landscape between the Kunlun and Altun mountain ranges that form the southern border of the Taklimakan Desert in China’s XinJiang Province. Image taken by the ASTER instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite on May 2nd, 2002. (Photo by NASA/GSFC/USGS EROS Data Center)

British Waters Wide Angle category runner-up. Grass snake swimming along a garden pond by Jack Perks (UK)in Nottinghamshire, UK. “I’m always on the lookout for unusual freshwater subjects and grass snakes are a species I’ve been after for years. I was told about a pond where the odd grass snake hangs around the lilly pads for frogs. I put my drysuit on and got into the water and could see one slithering along the surface. Slowly making my way towards it with my head only just poking above I got the spilt shot”. (Photo by Jack Perks/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019)