Traditional miners carry sulphur on the Ijen volcano complex on May 25, 2009 outside Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia. Miners carry the solidified yellow sulphur blocks from the crater floor to the rim for as many hours a day as they can tolerate, paid by the kilogram of sulphur they extract. The average wage is USD $.05 per kilogram of sulphur and a worker, depending on his strength and stamina, carry on average 3 baskets of 70-80kg per day, earning him around USD $11. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

“The Airbus A300-600ST (Super Transporter) or Beluga, is a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and over-sized or awkward cargo. It was officially called the Super Transporter at first, but the name Beluga became popular and has now been officially adopted”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The first Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft wing set is loaded on to a giant Beluga Airbus aircraft for transit to Bremen on February 25, 2009 in Broughton, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Fire over Vieira de Leiria, Portugal, on October 16, 2017 as a series of deadly wildfires broke out across Spain and Portugal as the approach of Hurricane Ophelia whipped up strong winds that fanned the flames. (Photo by Helio Madeiras/News Pictures)

The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 21 mission began on July 21 as an international crew of aquanauts splashed down to the undersea Aquarius Reef Base, located 62 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The NEEMO 21 crew will perform research both inside and outside the habitat during a 16-day simulated space mission. During simulated spacewalks carried out underwater, they will evaluate tools and mission operation techniques that could be used in future space missions, including journeys to Mars. (Photo by Karl Shreeves/NASA)

An Indian underprivileged bride gets her jewellery adjusted by a relative during a mass marriage ceremony in New Delhi, India, March 10, 2016. Fourteen underprivileged couples tied up the nuptial knot in the mass marriage ceremony organised by various social organisations. (Photo by Rajat Gupta/EPA)

“A very delicate person, beneath the flamboyance”. Jasper, Ladbroke Grove, 1977. “In the 1970s, Australia was rather cut off. I’d always wanted to live abroad, so I moved to Rome and then London. I was an art historian, but started studying photography part-time. I was interested in the demi-monde culture and began mixing in all sorts of circles. Jasper was a rather wonderful character...”. (Photo by Jane England)

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.

In this August 17, 2016, photo, from left to right, Chhering Chodom, 60, Tashi Yangzom, 50, Lobsang Chhering, 27, and Dorje Tandup, 58, drink milk tea on the side of the road. For centuries, the sleepy valley nestled in the Indian Himalayas remained a hidden Buddhist enclave forbidden to outsiders. Enduring the harsh year-round conditions of the high mountain desert, the people of Spiti Valley lived by a simple communal code – share the Earth's bounty, be hospitable to neighbors, and eschew greed and temptation at all turns. That's all starting to change, for better or worse. (Photo by Thomas Cytrynowicz/AP Photo)