People in funny costumes race down the slope in bathtubs during the 7th Bathtub race at Stoos, Switzerland, on January 19, 2019. (Photo by Urs Flueeler/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen's bicycle (behind, L) flies through the air as he collides with compatriot Dylan Groenewegen (on the ground, L) during the opening stage of the Tour of Poland race in Katowice, southern Poland on August 5, 2020. The Dutch rider was fighting for his life on Wednesday after he was thrown into and over a barrier at 80km/h in a sickening conclusion to the opening stage of the Tour of Poland. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Forum/AFP Photo)

Elysia Gonzalez, right, helps Caterine Sanchez adjust her hat inside the ladies room ahead of the Belmont Stakes horse race, Saturday, June 10, 2023, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. (Photo by Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)

A woman holding a dog walks out of a plane during a press event introducing Bark Air, an airline for dogs, at Republic Airport in East Farmingdale, New York on May 21, 2024. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/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.

Jimmy Arnold, an overweight boy from Rochester, bites into a cake. (Photo by Reg Birkett/Keystone/Getty Images). 14th April 1951

Maja, a 40-year-old elephant, extends her trunk into a bakery as a customer buys a newspaper while Maja took a stroll through the neighborhood with her minders from a nearby circus on July 1, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

American singer Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe, known mononymously as Tinashe attends the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center on September 12, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)