A young woman dances in a field of tulips in a park in central Moscow on May 10, 2019. Moscow enjoys a heatwave while the rest of Europe struggles with cold weather. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

An aerial view shows boats sailing in the marshes of Chibayish in Iraq's southern Dhi Qar province on February 8, 2025. (Photo by Asaad Niazi/AFP Photo)

People look at a collection of vintage cars during the Expo Transporte event at the Francisco de Miranda Air Base in Caracas on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP Photo)

2016 Rio Olympics, Judo, Final, Women, 48 kg Bronze Medal Contests, Carioca Arena 2, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 6, 2016. Otgontsetseg Galbadrakh (KAZ) of Kazakhstan and Dayaris Mestre Alvarez (CUB) of Cuba react. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

A competitor wearing a kilt and standing on a barrel throws a bowling ball between her legs during the “Brigaball” contest at the annual Bundanoon Highland Gathering, showcasing traditional Scottish events, held in the town of Bundanoon, located southwest of Sydney, April 9, 2016. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

Bar girls use their mobile phones outside a bar along the Walking Street where bars and sеx scenes are a commonplace July 31, 2016 in Pattaya, Thailand. Thailand's first female minister of tourism would like the sеx trade that is a huge business in the country to be banned. Tourists flock to Thailand for many sights including beautiful beaches but also for sеx tourism. Cities like Bangkok and Pattaya are well known as hubs of the Southeast Asian sеx trade, despite the fact that prostitution has been illegal in Thailand since 1960. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

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.

“Rescuers were digging through mud and debris Friday to retrieve more bodies strewn across a farming valley in the southern Philippines by a powerful typhoon. The death toll from the storm has surpassed 500, with more than 400 people missing”. – Bullit Marquez via Associated Press

Photo: Children look at the a damaged road destroyed by flash floods at the height of Typhoon Bopha in the village of Andap, New Bataan town, Compostela Valley province, December 5, 2012. (Photo by Ted Aljibe)