People enjoy their time near the Arcadia stage at the Glastonbury Festival site in Somerset, Britain on June 24, 2023. (Photo by Jason Cairnduff/Reuters)

This photo taken on November 7, 2023 shows winter swimming enthusiasts taking photos at Beiling Park after snowfall in Shenyang, in China's northeastern Liaoning province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

The 26-foot-tall “Forever Marilyn” statue, was hoisted by crane early this morning in downtown Palm Springs, California on February 25, 2025. This larger-than-life tribute to Monroe's iconic pose from “The Seven Year Itch” is being moved to resolve ongoing legal disputes over its placement. Installed in 2021 near the Palm Springs Art Museum, the statue faced criticism and legal challenges regarding public access and aesthetic concerns. (Photo by Ian L. Sitren/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman lies injured after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London on Wednesday, March 22, 2017. A police officer has been stabbed near to the British Parliament and the alleged assailant shot by armed police. Scotland Yard report they have been called to an incident on Westminster Bridge where several people have been injured by a car. (Photo by Toby Melville/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.

A woman holding a girl walks as police officers block the street during a rally called by the opposition leader Raila Odinga who claims the last Kenyan presidential election was stolen from him and blames the government for the hike of living costs in Kibera, Nairobi on March 27, 2023. Police fired tear gas to disperse anti-government protests on March 27, 2023 over the high cost of living, after the opposition vowed demonstrations would go ahead despite a police ban. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

A dragonfly rests on a leaf in Hinojedo, Cantabria, northern Spain, 01 June 2023. (Photo by Pedro Puente Hoyos/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

In this Thursday, May 24, 2018, photograph, artists of Ukraine's Artel Myth theatre perform “A day in the life of Ukrainians” at the Living Statues International Festival, in Bucharest, Romania. Up to thirty thousand people enjoyed a week of street performances by reputed artists from eight countries in the “largest European festival of the genre”. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)