A major new exhibition exploring the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture at Somerset House, London on January 24, 2024. From emojis to internet memes, video games to plushie toys, food to loveable robotic design, cuteness has taken over our world. (Photo by Paul Quezada-Neiman/Alamy Live News)

A yawning leopard appears to be laughing instead at Chobe National Park in Botswana in January 2023. (Photo by Nick Dale/Solent News & Photo Agency)

The shadow of a cross is pictured as Catholic faithful arrive to attend a reenactment of the “Via Crucis” (way of the Cross) during Holy Week in Abobote, an area of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on April 18, 2025. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)

A young trumpeter joins the Anglican Church band as the coffin of late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu arrives outside the St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, 31 December 2021. The anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was a key figure in the dismantling of apartheid, died on 26 December 2021 at the age of 90. A full state funeral will be held on 01 January 2022. (Photo by Nic Bothma/EPA/EFE)

President Calvin Coolidge rides in a car during his inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., U.S. in March 1925. (Photo by Reuters/Library of Congress)

English-Albanian singer and songwriter Dua Lipa arrives at the premiere of “Barbie” on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/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.

“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)