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Ocean voyage

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.
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14 Nov 2011 09:11:00
A chained male monkey in a costume and wearing a toy mask performs at a street in Depok, West Java, Indonesia, 30 September 2021. A performing monkey in a street, known as “Topeng Monyet” (lit. Monkey Mask), is a popular form of cheap entertainment in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java. During a street monkey show, a trainer issues orders by pulling the chain tied around the primate's neck, forcing it to perform tricks such as wearing a mask or riding a toy motorcycle. The Indonesian government in 2013 banned the Topeng Monyet in the capital Jakarta to improve public order and ending animal abuse. However, monkey performances are still popular in several other parts of the country, such as West Java, especially after the government lowered the level of Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) in a number of areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Adi Weda/EPA/EFE)

A chained male monkey in a costume and wearing a toy mask performs at a street in Depok, West Java, Indonesia, 30 September 2021. A performing monkey in a street, known as “Topeng Monyet” (lit. Monkey Mask), is a popular form of cheap entertainment in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java. (Photo by Adi Weda/EPA/EFE)
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16 Oct 2021 09:08:00
Nino, a ten-year-old toreador apprentice of the French Tauromachy Centre, nicknamed El Nino, touches a practice bull at the bullring of Garons, near Nimes, September 25, 2013. (Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)

Nino, a ten-year-old toreador apprentice of the French Tauromachy Centre, nicknamed El Nino, touches a practice bull at the bullring of Garons, near Nimes, September 25, 2013. Since 1983, the French Tauromachy Centre in Nimes has trained some 1,000 youths in the art of bullfighting. Twenty of them have gone on to become professional matadors, facing fighting bulls in the arena. Twice a week, students take courses with a matador to learn the movements and gestures of the bullfighter in the ring, but without an animal present. Students train with calves in the surrounding fields during spring, and regularly participate in beginner's bullfights (becerradas) without killing calves. Solal has been taking courses for three years and Nino, for just a year now. Both are normally enrolled in French public schools, but have one thought in mind – bullfighting. They share a passion linked to the city of Nimes, famous for its ferias and bullring. (Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)
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06 Nov 2013 10:12:00
Serbian police officers of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit pose for a picture in their base outside Belgrade October 8, 2014. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

Serbian police officers of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit pose for a picture in their base outside Belgrade October 8, 2014. When the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, in August sparked sometimes violent protests, the response of police in camouflage gear and armoured vehicles wielding stun grenades and assault rifles seemed more like a combat operation than a public order measure. Some U.S. police departments have recently acquired U.S. military-surplus hardware from wars abroad, but there are many law enforcers around the world whose rules of engagement also allow the use of lethal force with relatively few restrictions. But for every regulation that gives police wide scope to use firearms, there is another code that sharply limits their use. In Serbia, police may use measures ranging from batons to special vehicles, water cannon and tear gas on groups of people who have gathered illegally and are behaving in a way that is violent or could cause violence, but they may use firearms only when life is endangered. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)
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27 Nov 2014 14:53:00
A dead crocodile is seen on Huangsha Seafood Market in Guangzhou, Guandong Province, China, 22 January 2018. Tsukiji Market of China or Huangsha Seafood Market is biggest one in Southern China and one of the biggest in China, as there are literally hundreds of different varieties of fish and seafood scattered throughout the market. Since the proximity of the fish market is so close to the Zhujiang River, it's quite easy for the large fishing vessels and fishermen to unload their fresh catch right at the market, which ensures that the fish and seafood remain fresh. Fish and other seafood are coming there from all around the globe. Seafood Market is full of different kinds of live fish, live shellfish, and live seafood on display in crystal clear tanks and it's common to see 5-star chefs, retailers and expats to source for fresh and high-quality seafood supplies for reasonable prices. While it is a wholesale fish market, since many Guangzhou restaurants and businesses come to purchase their seafood here, the public is welcome to come and even purchase. Many local Chinese have the vendors slice up fresh salmon fillets to take home or carry seafood into one of the nearby specialty restaurants, where they will cook if for them and serve it with vegetables and other side dishes of their choice. One of the biggest attractions for both, tourists and buyers, on market are crocodiles, which are brought there alive in wooden cases with taped jaws so they can?t accidentally bite. They are from crocodile farms from Guangdong, China and from Vietnam. Crocodile meat is popular in most Asian countries and it is consider as delicate one. Crocodiles weight from 10 to 25 kg and bigger ones are about 2 years old. They cost about 70 RMB (8.90 EURO) when bout as whole, or if you buy as parts most expensive and appreciated parts are paws 120 RMB (15.26 EURO) per kg, and tail 100 RMB (12.72 EURO) per kg. (Photo by Aleksandar Plavevski/EPA/EFE)

A dead crocodile is seen on Huangsha Seafood Market in Guangzhou, Guandong Province, China, 22 January 2018. Tsukiji Market of China or Huangsha Seafood Market is biggest one in Southern China and one of the biggest in China, as there are literally hundreds of different varieties of fish and seafood scattered throughout the market. (Photo by Aleksandar Plavevski/EPA/EFE)
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17 Apr 2020 00:05:00
The Borges' family pet dog, Little, is placed on the back of Tom, their tiger, for a photo to be taken, in Maringa, Brazil, Friday, September 27, 2013. The Brazilian family is now locked in a legal dispute for the big cats, they have eight tigers and two lions, with federal wildlife officials working to take them away. While Borges does have a license to raise the animals, Brazilian wildlife officials say he illegally bred the cats, creating a public danger. (Photo by Renata Brito/AP Photo)

“Ary Borges and his family live in southern Brazil like most families the Borges' love animals and have an array of cats living in their home. The only difference between the cats owned by the Borges family and the cat that is cuddled up on your lap as you read this is the Borges' cats weigh over 700 pounds and could kill you just as soon as look at you. The Borges family shares their home with nine tigers, two lionesses, a chimp and a Chihuahua”. – Amanda Schiavo via Latin Times. Photo: The Borges' family pet dog, Little, is placed on the back of Tom, their tiger, for a photo to be taken, in Maringa, Brazil, Friday, September 27, 2013. (Photo by Renata Brito/AP Photo)
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04 Oct 2013 11:51:00
Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada's six-acre sand and soil “facescape” stretches across the JFK Hockey Field on the north side of the Reflecting Pool along the National Mall October 1, 2014 in Washington, DC. Titled “Out of Many, One” and composed of 2,500 tons of sand, 800 tons of top soil and eight miles of string, the piece is the artist's interpreative blending of 30 different men's faces. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada's six-acre sand and soil “facescape” stretches across the JFK Hockey Field on the north side of the Reflecting Pool along the National Mall October 1, 2014 in Washington, DC. Titled “Out of Many, One” and composed of 2,500 tons of sand, 800 tons of top soil and eight miles of string, the piece is the artist's interpreative blending of 30 different men's faces. Rodriguez-Gereda used high-precision global positioning satellites to place 10,000 wood pegs as waypoints for the giant face. The piece will be open to the public beginning October 4 and will eventually be tilled back into the earth. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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04 Oct 2014 11:39:00
Pedestrians cover their face as they walk along the dusty road in Kathmandu, Nepal February 27, 2017. Nepal has forced 2,500 old vehicles off roads in its capital city of Kathmandu, part of a fight against alarming air pollution levels that have hit nine times World Health Organisation (WHO) limits. Air pollution has been a chronic problem in rapidly growing Kathmandu, which sits in a Himalayan valley and is home to more than 3mn people. Rising public anger with the smog is turning into a headache for a beleaguered government headed by former Maoist rebels. Dust from road works, exhaust from old, poorly maintained vehicles and smoke from coal-burning brick kilns blend in a murky haze that hangs over the ancient city, raising the risk of cancer, stroke, asthma and high blood pressure, experts say. Officials hope the ban on vehicles more than 20 years old will be a step towards a cleaner future. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Pedestrians cover their face as they walk along the dusty road in Kathmandu, Nepal February 27, 2017. Nepal has forced 2,500 old vehicles off roads in its capital city of Kathmandu, part of a fight against alarming air pollution levels that have hit nine times World Health Organisation (WHO) limits. Air pollution has been a chronic problem in rapidly growing Kathmandu, which sits in a Himalayan valley and is home to more than 3mn people. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)
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04 Mar 2017 00:04:00