Painted eggshell displayed at Wayan Sadra's workshop on April 14, 2014 in Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia. 50-year-old Wayan Sadra got the idea to start his eggshell painting business, after his niece who worked in a five star hotel asked for his help to paint on an egg for an Easter egg competition. Now the business he started in 1997 attracts customers for his painted eggs from Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Sadra usually experiences a surge in sales ahead of Easter. (Photo by Putu Sayoga/Getty Images)

A relative (L) of Champa Devi, 88, sits next to her body, minutes after her death at Mukti Bhavan (Salvation House) at Varanasi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, June 21, 2014. The city of Varanasi, on the banks of the River Ganges, is widely considered Hinduism's holiest city and many Hindus believe that dying there and having their remains scattered in the Ganges allows their soul to escape a cycle of death and rebirth, attaining “moksha” or salvation. “Mukti Bhavan” or “Salvation House”, is a charity-run hostel that caters for people who wish to come to Varanasi to die. Guests can normally stay up to two weeks after which, if they haven't yet passed away, they are gently asked to leave. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Reuters photographers Carlos Barria and Bobby Yip photographed protestors and details of life on the barricades, asking demonstrators what their role was in the movement, and what they wanted to happen. Here: Crystal, 15, a part-time boutique sales assistant, poses on Nathan Road in Mongkok shopping district in Hong Kong October 7, 2014. Holding a walkie talkie for fast communication with other supporters, Crystal said, “I am not demanding Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to quit, but (want) to protect protesters from being threatened badly by opponents and the police”. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

Camila Hormazabal, a 24-year-old sеx worker, meets with a virtual customer in Concepcion, Chile on April 7, 2020. Hormazabal now offers sеxual services online after the nightclub where she had worked was closed due to the outbreak. With no way to pay her bills, Hormazabal switched to video calls conducted from her high-rise apartment bedroom, and asked her regulars to meet her online. She is one of the thousands of sеx workers worldwide left in a precarious position after the very intimacy that defines their work was thwarted by social distancing measures. (Photo by Juan Gonzalez/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.

Some wave over the rainbow – a splash of colour is captured in spray over the sea wall at Totland Bay on the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England on February 16, 2022. (Photo by Jamie Russell/Bournemouth News)

Japanese businessman Kiyoshi Kimura has paid 1.38 million euros ($1.76 million, or 155.4 million yen) for a blue fin tuna – more than three times the previous high – which he also set one year ago. The 222-kilogram fish will be served to Kimura’s customers. Blue fin tuna is annually sold in a traditional New Year’s auction. Japan consumes 80 percent blue fin tuna caught worldwide.

Photo: President of sushi restaurant chain Sushi-Zanmai, Kiyoshi Kimura, displays a 222kg bluefin tuna at his main restaurant near Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market on January 5, 2013. The bluefin tuna was traded at 155.4 million yen (1.77 million USD) at the wholesale market, smashing a previous record. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

Farmers arrange bunches of water lilies after harvesting them from the wetlands in Barishal, Bangladesh on March 21, 2023. Floating through 10,000 acres of canal, farmers use their little boats to fetch the flowers. (Photo by Joy Saha/Cover Images)