Moscow riot police prepare to move on activists during an unsacnctioned anti-Putin opposition rally at the Pushkin Square March 5, 2012 in central Moscow, Russia. Amid charges of fraud, demonstrators took to the streets a day after Vladimir Putin declared victory in Russia's presidential elections. (Photos by: Rustem Adagamov; Source: LiveJournal; Gleb Shchelkunov; Source: LiveJournal; Ilya Varlamov; Source: LiveJournal; Raskalov; Source: LiveJournal; Dmitry Chistoprudov; Source: LiveJournal)

A protester stands against Turkish soldiers during clashes near Silivri, where a hearing on people charged with attempting to overthrow Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government is due to take place August 5, 2013. A Turkish court on Monday sentenced a former military commander to life in prison and dozens of others including opposition members of parliament to long terms for plotting against the government, in a case that has exposed deep divisions in the country. Retired military chief of staff General Ilker Basbug was sentenced to life for his role in the “Ergenekon” conspiracy to overthrow the government of Erdogan. (Photo by Murad Sezer/Reuters)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews)

The best man in a wedding party, who all declined to be identified, stands near the bride and groom as he holds an AR-10 rifle he was handed while the party was having their pre-wedding portraits taken on the steps of the capitol before a rally nearby by gun-rights advocates to protest a new expanded gun background check law in Washington state Saturday, December 13, 2014, in Olympia, Wash. The wedding party was not part of the protest, but posed for pictures with it after being handed it by gun activist Brandon Lyons, who said “we've all just broken the law”, by handing the gun over. Saturday's protest was called the “I Will Not Comply” rally, and those attending said they will openly exchange firearms in opposition to the state's new voter-approved universal background check law, Initiative 594. The law, which took effect on December 4, requires background checks on all sales and transfers, including private transactions and many loans and gifts. (Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP Photo)

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 utility worker clears snow by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden during a snowfall in Moscow, Russia on January 28, 2021. (Photo by Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS)

Reuters South Africa-based photographer Juda Ngwenya who documented Nelson Mandela's historic rise to power died on Wednesday. Here: Prostitutes wait at a bar in a plush northern suburb of Johannesburg August 22, 2002. (Photo by Juda Ngwenya/Reuters)

U.S. Army soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment deployed to Combat Outpost Sabari, Afghanistan scan their area as they begin a multi-day air assault mission near the Pakistani border of eastern Afghanistan's Khost province May 2, 2012. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua L. DeMotts/U.S. Air Force)

A nurse holds a painting of Prime Minister Boris Johnson clapping with blood on his hands as part of a demonstration of NHS workers at hospitals across London to demand a 15 per cent pay rise by the government in London, Wednesday, August 26, 2020.(Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)