A surfer dressed as Santa Claus participates in the 16th annual “Surfing Santas” event on Christmas Eve in Cocoa Beach, Florida, December 24, 2024. (Photo by Giorgio Viera/AFP Photo)

Associated Press photographer Wong Maye-E tries to get her North Korean subjects to open up as much as is possible in an authoritarian country with no tolerance for dissent and great distrust of foreigners. She has taken dozens of portraits of North Koreans over the past three years, often after breaking the ice by taking photos with an instant camera and sharing them. Her question for everyone she photographs: What is your motto? Their answers reflect both their varied lives and the government that looms incessantly over all of them. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

“Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. (born March 23, 1978), better known as Perez Hilton (a play on “Paris Hilton”), is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com (formerly PageSixSixSix.com), is known for posts covering gossip items about musicians, actors and celebrities. He is also known for posting tabloid photographs over which he has added his own captions or “doodles”. His blog has garnered negative attention for its attitude, its active “outing” of alleged closeted celebrities and its role in the increasing coverage of celebrities in all forms of media.” – Wikipedia

Photo: Blogger Perez Hilton poses with a wombat during a visit to Taronga Zoo on June 13, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Perezhilton.com via Getty Images)

The Bahamas, the Commonwealth nation of hundreds of islands roughly the size of Connecticut and with population of just a bit over Anaheim, is known for its crystal waters and pristine beaches. This is possibly one of the world’s most beautiful havens of nature, yet people are coming here to see pigs. It is unclear when the pigs first appeared on Exuma Island or where they come from. There’s talk about a daring escape from a shipwreck, or sailors releasing the swine on purpose. In all probability, there were no pigs on this tropical paradise before European settlers came, so their mere presence is the work of human. The intriguing feat of nature, however, is that this population of pigs developed a fine aptitude for swimming. Here: “So you're on a boat in Bahamas and then this pig swims by begging for food”. (Photo and caption by Lisa Larsen/Public Domain)

A crane loads logs at the Novoyeniseisk wood processing plant, with the air temperature at about minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit), in the town of Lesosibirsk in Krasnoyarsk Region, Siberia, Russia, February 16, 2016. The plant exports timber to Europe, Northern Africa and Asia. The Taiga, also known as the boreal forest, on the coast of the Angara River and Yenisei River is one of the main areas for the industrial cutting of wood thanks to the high quality of the Angara pine. Open air work continues all year around regardless to temperatures which can drop to minus 52 degrees Celsius (minus 61.6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to employees. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

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.

Looking for a reason to visit the Philippines? This mermaid school should do the trick. No, seriously, there’s an actual school that will teach you how to be a mermaid. It’s called the Philippines Mermaid Swimming Academy. (Photo by Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy/Exclusivepix Media)

A member of security personnel stands on duty on an empty train platform inside a station on the Subway Line Number 1 on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Beijing, China, February 7, 2016. According to local media, traffic in Beijing has seen a rare relief from its usual heavy pressure after 15 million people have left the city, heading for family reunions in their hometowns on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year of Monkey. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)