Heralds ride on horse-back through the streets of Moscow proclaiming the forthcoming coronation of Tsar Nicholas II, 1896. P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Second placed Kalex Moto2 Tito Rabat (rear R) of Spain and third placed Kalex Moto2 Alex Rins of Spain spray with champagne during the award ceremony for the Czech Grand Prix in Brno, Czech Republic, August 16, 2015. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Ron Mueck's “Big Baby” sculpture appears to look round at Jenny Saville's painting “Interfacing” at the Masterpieces Exhibition at Christie's on June 13, 2011 in London, England. The painting and sculpture feature in the exhibition, open to the public from 13th–15th June 2011, which showcases some of the Ј250 million worth of art for sale over the next four weeks. Artists including Michelangelo, Gainsborough, Goya, Stubbs, Monet, Picasso and Renoir are represented. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A Jennie fan waits in the crowd for Jennie's perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, U.S., April 13, 2025. (Photo by Daniel Cole/Reuters)

Founded in 1989, the Icehotel in Swedish Lapland is built from the snow up each year, using ice from the local river. The rooms are designed by international artists and this year feature spacemen and an ice queen. The hotel has 35 suites, featuring ice carvings designed by 36 different artists from 17 countries. (Photo by Asaf Kliger/IceHotel/The Guardian)

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 snowflake rests on black velvet after a snowfall in Knoxville on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. (Photo by Adam Lau/News Sentinel)

This is a photo shoot like youve never seen before a model in glamorous dresses surrounded by sharks. However, model and shark diver Liz Parkinson decided to take the plunge and get up close and personal with some of the most revered creatures of the deep. She was joined at the depths of the ocean by Australian photographer Jeremy Farris, who travelled around the world to capture this quite stunning collection. In some pictures, Liz is seen hitching a ride on the fins of the placid whale shark whilst in others she is being examined by the vicious tiger shark. Here: Liz swimming with Hammerheads in the Bahamas, Bimini. (Photo by Jeremy Farris/Caters News)