Carriers of the Great God Power brotherhood unload Virgen del Carmen statue after its journey on July 15, 2014 at Puerto de la Cruz dock on the Canary island of Tenerife, Spain. Since 1921, the statue of the Virgen del Carmen, patron saint of fishermen, has been carried with great fanfare annually as part of July Festivities to the Puerto de la Cruz dock where, at the end of its procession, it is hoisted aboard a decorated boat. Weather permitting, the boat carrying the statue, accompanied by a flotilla of other boats, makes a short journey along the island coast before returning to the harbour. In recent years, attendance at the event has numbered more than 35,000 people. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

A Turkana man and a boy carrying a gun look on as a G3 battle rifle hangs from a structure used to dry fish at a fishing camp on the shores of Lake Turkana, some kilometres from Todonyang near the Kenya-Ethiopia border in northwestern Kenya October 12, 2013The Turkana are traditionally nomadic pastoralists, but they have seen the pasture that they need to feed their herds suffer from recurring droughts and many have turned to fishing. However, Lake Turkana is overfished, and scarcity of food and pastureland is fuelling long-standing conflict with Ethiopian indigenous Dhaasanac, who have seen grazing grounds squeezed by large-scale government agricultural schemes in southern Ethiopia. The Dhaasanac now venture ever deeper into Kenyan territory in search of fish and grass, clashing with neighbours. Fighting between the communities has a long history, but the conflict has become ever more fatal as automatic weapons from other regional conflicts seep into the area. While the Turkana region is short of basics like grass and ground-water, it contains other resources including oil reserves and massive, newly discovered underground aquifers. (Photo by Siegfried Modola/Reuters)

Trees grow through the windshield of a 1937 Chrysler Imperial as it sits at Old Car City, the world's largest known classic car junkyard Thursday, July 16, 2015, in White, Ga. Over 4,000 classic cars decorate 32 acres of forest which have been turned into a junkyard museum by owner Walter Dean Lewis. The two grew up playing in the cars on the lot which started as a general store selling auto parts in 1931 by Lewis' parents. Lewis stopped selling parts about six years ago when he realized he could sustain the business more as a museum, charging $15 for visitors just looking, and $25 for photographers. Many of the cars have never moved in over 30 years and in some cases, trees now grow through them, even lifting some off the ground. (Photo by David Goldman/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 Thai performer puts his head inside a crocodile's mouth during a media preview performance as part of preparation to reopen Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, 19 March 2024. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

A monkey is being fed by a foreign tourist during the annual Monkey Banquet at Phra Prang Sam Yod ancient temple in Lopburi, some 180km from Bangkok, central Thailand, 24 November 2024. The annual gala has been organized since 1989 by Lopburi's entrepreneur Yongyuth Kitwatananusont, offering all-you-can-eat fruits, vegetables, and desserts for monkeys to honor the long-tailed macaques to attract tourists to visit the town to promote tourism. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

Myanmar national award second-place winner: Kyaw Win Hlaing. “Mount Bromo is an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. The name Bromo derives from the Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Hindu creator god”. (Photo by Kyaw Win Hlaing/Sony World Photography Awards 2018)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains parked at a station in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year travel peak in Nanjing, in eastern China's Jiangsu province on January 27, 2021, as authorities have encouraged people to stay put during the Spring Festival to curb the spread of of COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)