Arisa Trew of Australia competes during the women's skateboarding park final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, August 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

Sweden's Henrik Pilerud, inside the Totoro costume, and his team member Victoria Christensen (R) pose during an interview with AFP ahead of a rehearsal before the world cosplay championship 2024 during the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever Torrey competes in the 10th annual Petco Unleashed surfing dog contest at Imperial Beach, California August 1, 2015. Proceeds raised at the event go to benefit the San Diego Humane Society. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

A participant of “Bread Procession of the Saint”, takes part in the ceremony in honor of Domingo de La Calzada Saint (1019-1109) who helped poor people and pilgrimage, in Santo Domingo de La Calzada, northern Spain, Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Every year during spring season, “Las Doncellas” (White Virgins), hold on their head a basket cover with white cloth while they walk past along of this old village in honor of the saint. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

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.

The goats are known to be good climbers, but this one is taking the climbing thing to a whole new level. It clambered on the tip of its owner’s stick, as a part of the roadside performance for a quick coin, on the outskirts of Faisalabad, Pakistan, November 5, 2012. (Photo by Fayyaz Hussain/Reuters)

A racegoers walks into a rubbish bin following 2016 Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 1, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

A humpead wrasse, transported from Japan's southern island of Okinawa, swims with other tropical saltwater fish on display in a tank for the Sony Aquarium 2017 exhibition in Tokyo on July 31, 2017. The Sony Aquarium 2017 exhibition, featuring marine life common to the waters around Okinawa, runs until August 13. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)