Cars drive under a rainbow near Bad Langensalza, Germany, Wednesday, November 2, 2016. (Photo by Jens Meyer/AP Photo)

A Lebanese man rides his horse in a village destroyed by an Israeli air and ground offensive, in the town of Kfar Kila, southern Lebanon, Tuesday, February 18, 2025. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/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 photograph of Cuba's former President Fidel Castro decorates a wall inside a state-run market in Havana, March 8, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

A child sleeps under a table at the Jorkpan market in Sinkor district in Monrovia, Liberia on May 2, 2016. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

Ukrainian law enforcement officers restrain an activist of women's rights group Femen, who holds a protest outside the presidential administration headquarters while marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Kyiv, Ukraine on November 25, 2020. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Belarusian women take a selfie as they take part in the Mrs and Miss Minsk city pageant, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Minsk, Belarus on June 26, 2020. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

A military helicopter flies over Tel Aviv after lifting off from the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov), amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Israel on December 27, 2023. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)