American actress Alison Brie is seen exiting “Watch What Happens Live” studio on February 08, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by MediaPunch/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

People walk past part of an outdoor display as preparations continue for the upcoming pop culture convention Comic Con in San Diego, California, U.S., July 17, 2018. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Dancers from “LA Dance Project” perform, wearing a mask, during the drive-in show “Solo at Dusk” in Los Angeles, California, on October 13, 2020, amid the Coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP Photo)

Janja Garnbret of Slovenia competes during the women's boulder qualification of the IFSC World Cup Innsbruck 2024 on June 26, 2024 in Innsbruck, Austria. (Photo by Marco Kost/Getty Images)

Cast member, American model and actress Hunter Schafer attends the world premiere of the movie “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, in BFI IMAX in London, Britain on November 9, 2023. (Photo by Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters)

Fishermen repair brightly coloured nets before their next trip to the River Matla in West Bengal, India in the last decade of July 2025. (Photo by Avishek Das/Solent News & Photo Agency)

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.

“These eerily stunning images taken using infrared lighting reveal the landscapes of Iceland in all their natural glory. Andy Lee, 45, uses a special technique which blocks out light from some visible wavelengths and picks up light from others invisible to the naked eye”. – Caters News. Photo: Location: Kirkjufell. These eerily stunning images taken using infrared lighting reveal the landscapes of Iceland in all their natural glory. (Photo by Andy Lee/Caters News)