A farmer harvests apples at an apple orchard on October 10, 2020 in Yiyuan County, Shandong Province of China. (Photo by Zhao Dongshan/VCG via Getty Images)

Members of St. Dominic Catholic Church take part in a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, on Good Friday in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria, on April 18, 2025. (Photo by Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters)

Karima Adebibe, the newly crowned face of Lara Croft, poses, with a Burmese python on the eve of the release of the record breaking new video game “Lara Croft Tomb Raider; Legend” at The Barbican on April 6, 2006 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Part made cricket bats sit in a box at the Salix Cricket Bat Company in Langley, Britain July 6, 2015. Salix Cricket Bat Company use traditional tools and techniques to make cricket bats by hand. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

A traffic light is seen next to the Pink Supermoon in Frankfurt, Germany, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

Socialite Kathy Hilton attends the Prudential Financial Grand Prix Hamptons Classic Horse Show August 31, 2003 in Bridgehampton, New York.

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 police officer removes a reveler from standing on a post as they guard and clear the street of revelers dressed in holiday themed costumes during SantaCon in New York Saturday, December 12, 2015. As thousands of Santa-suited merrymakers prepare to hit the city's streets and bars, organizers of the annual pub crawl say they're taking more steps than ever to deter naughty behavior. (Photo by Andres Kudacki/AP Photo)