Bonita the border collie sticks out in the bluebells at Kingley Vale, Chichester in West Sussex, England in the last decade of April 2024. (Photo by Trevor Adams/Matrix Pictures)

Participants wearing historical attire compete on historical high wheel Penny Farthing bicycles in the traditional 'One Mile Race' at Letna Park in Prague, Czech Republic, November 7, 2015. The meeting of Penny Farthing bicycles is taking place for the 22th time. (Photo by Filip Singer/EPA)

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.

People pause at a memorial set up for victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nev., on Tuesday, October 3, 2017. A gunman opened fire on an outdoor music concert on Sunday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, with dozens of people killed and hundreds injured, some by gunfire, some during the chaotic escape. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

Local people check the growth of mussels at a river in Haian County on November 2, 2017 in Nantong, Jiangsu Province of China. Fish, shrimp, crab and mussel farming cleans the river and increases the villagers' income at Haian county in Jiangsu. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Valery Bystritskii, 10, gets a fellow student into a lock at Bunny's Gym in July 2015 in Winchester, Tennessee. (Photo by Mike Saliba/Barcroft USA)

“Misty Morning”. Every morning, people expect sunny weather. Photo location: Bali, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Henry Adam/National Geographic Photo Contest)

(L-R) Pieter Van Lankveld, Jay Schippers, Ynze Oegema, Justin Kimmann, Teun Kivit and Twan Van Gendt compete during the Dutch National BMX Championships at Olympic Training Centre Papendal on October 11, 2020 in Arnhem, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)