A dog sits in a plastic tub filled with water in Taipei, Taiwan, 28 July 2020. Betel nut seller Mr Luo, the dog's owner, said he puts his dog, a 12-year-old mixed breed called Ah Dai (Stupid), in a plastic tub filled with water whenever the weather gets hot. Ah Dai enjoys the bath and can sit in the basin for hours, according to Mr Luo. Luo has a dozen pairs of glasses for Ah Dai, so the dog wears different glasses every day and many tourists take photos of Ah Dai. (Photo by David Chang/EPA/EFE)

Costumed children from the local Shade performance group perform their show during the annual Brixton Burn in Johannesburg, South Africa, 28 August 2021. The annual event is run by members of the “Afrikaburn” community which is a regional event of “Burning Man” in the United States. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

A worker carries a basket of fish, at a wholesale fish market, on the outskirts of Kolkata, March 15, 2017. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A Scottish Highland bull on the loose in New Milford, Connecticut on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. (Photo by Caitlin Mandracchi/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.

A man rides a bike on a submerged road alongside a boat at Demra area in Dhaka on July 24, 2020. As many as 20 districts including the latest additions Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, and Naogaon have so far been hit with the worsening flood situation across Bangladesh and many more areas might be inundated if the situation does not improve soon, said Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC). (Photo by Sultan Mahmud Mukut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

People without face masks are seen at Times Square during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in New York City, U.S., March 11, 2021. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

The face of a graduating student is displayed on a tablet attached to a robot during a “cyber graduation” ceremony at a school on May 22, 2020 in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. Robots represented some 179 graduating students of the Senator Rene Cayetano Science and Technology High School during a graduation ceremony that was streamed online, as mass gatherings remain prohibited in the country under the Philippine government's lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The robots were developed by alumni of the school's robotics club, which used tablets to display the faces of the graduating students as they “marched” on stage to receive their diplomas. The Philippines' Department of Health has so far reported 13,434 cases of the coronavirus in the country, with at least 846 recorded fatalities. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)