Young couple in BDSM action on the leather sofa. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez attend The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Iceland horses play on a meadow of a stud farm in Obernhain near Frankfurt, Germany, as the sun rises Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Actress Laila Rouass poses during a studio shoot ahead of the new series of “Footballers Wives” at a London studio on January 28, 2004 in London. Rouass plays Conrad's bisexual wife Amber, and the nine-part series begins on ITV1 on February 11, 2004. (Photo by Stephen Perry/Getty Images)

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 man exercises in the early morning on a hilltop overlooking Kabul, Afghanistan March 3, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

A police officer carries a woman who fainted while gathering to try to buy pasta outside a supermarket in Caracas, Venezuela, June 10, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Yannis Behrakis, one of Reuters' most decorated and best-loved photographers, has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 58. Here: A pro-government Sierra Leonean fighter bites a bullet as he takes position in no man's land 2 km ahead of Rogberi junction where evidence of executed UN troops were found after heavy fighting between government troops and RUF rebels 100 km north east of Freetown, Sierra Leone, May 23, 2000. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)