A killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) chick on sand dunes in Pacific Grove, California, US on June 21, 2023. The killdeer gets its name from its shrill, loud call. (Photo by Rory Merry/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Dancers from the McLoughlin school in Glasgow, Scotland put on make-up as they get ready to participate in the 2022 World Irish Dancing Championships on its 50th anniversary, in Belfast, Northern Ireland on April 14, 2022. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/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.

Roof-topping enthusiast Daniel Lau takes a selfie with high-rise buildings down below as he stands on the top of a skyscraper in Hong Kong, China on August 15, 2017. A craze that began in Russia has now taken hold in Hong Kong, one of the world's most vertical cities. Mr Lau said he had been inspired by Russian climbers and that he was unafraid of the vertiginous heights he scales. (Photo by ImagineChina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A rat's head rests as it is constricted in an opening in the bottom of a garbage can in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., October 18, 2016. The Brooklyn rat was saved on Tuesday after getting its head stuck in the dumpster while scavenging for food, according to the New York Daily News. As the rat was scurrying around the bottom of the trash can, it came across a few ventilation holes. The hungry creature poked his head into one of them, but to its dismay couldn't get back out,Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson told the Daily News. Jackson was able to take some adorable photos of the rat's unfortunate situation before it was rescued. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

A bride gets her make-up done before the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kolkata, India, February 14, 2016. A total of 150 tribal Hindu, Muslim and Christian couples from various villages across the state took their wedding vows on Sunday during the day-long mass marriage ceremony organised by a social organisation, the organisers said. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

In this photo taken Tuesday, February 2, 2016, asylum seekers gather round a fire as they cook a meal overlooking the temporary Altnes camp refugee camp on the island of Seiland, northern Norway. Waiting for their asylum claims to be processed, hundreds of people in emergency shelters in Hammerfest and neighboring towns are slowly getting used to the extreme climate and unfamiliar customs of the High North. They say they have adapted to the cold – the temperature rarely drops below minus 10 degrees C (14 F) along the coast, though it gets much colder further inland. It’s the darkness that throws them off. (Photo by Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

Tim Anderson final balanced rock stack in the Llano River. Tim Anderson, rock balancing “pro” from Pennsylvania, carefully worked to balance his stack on a dry spot in the Llano river Saturday March 12, 2016. He was an honored guest of the festival and enjoyed visiting Texas so he came for another year. The river was higher this year because of the rains so the balancers could not get to the better rock that were available last year. (Photo by Nell Carroll/American-Statesman)