North Korean soldiers wave along the Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite to the Chinese border city of Dandong October 7, 2014. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past a graffiti, after authorities eased lockdown restrictions that were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, June 12, 2020. (Photo by Hemanshi Kamani/Reuters)

New program of Munich's Krone Circus performed by two American artists “The Carmenas” during a press conference in Munich, Germany on January 10, 1962, while sitting in a coffee-house. (Photo by Heinrich Sanden Sr./AP Photo)

A model wears a creation for the Rick Owens ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented Thursday, September 29, 2022 in Paris. (Photo by Francois Mori/AP Photo)

A woman uses a virtual reality (VR) headset to view images by Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in Mexico City, Mexico, 23 May 2018. The technological giant Google launched the “The Faces of Frida”, an interactive digital exhibition that treasures the heartrending work of the Mexican artist to tell her story from different points of view, with attention to the invisible details. (Photo by Sashenka Gutierrez/EPA/EFE)

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.

Two paddle boarders stop to watch the sunrise on a stormy morning in Sanibel, Fla., Thursday, August 15, 2019. (Photo by J. David Ake/AP Photo)

Wild weather drenches tourists, Sydney, Australia on March 7, 2017. A series of photographs as tourists take a soaking on Sydney's iconic Manly Ferry sailing big swells near Sydney's North Head. The Weather Bureau warns of large and powerful surf conditions expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as rock fishing, swimming and surfing. (Photo by Hugh Peterswald/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)