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.

Fossilized whale bones are on display outside the Wati El Hitan Fossils and Climate Change Museum, a UNESCO natural World Heritage site, on the opening day, in the Fayoum oasis, Egypt, Thursday, January 14, 2016. Egypt has cut the ribbon on the Middle East's first fossil museum housing the world's largest intact skeleton of a "walking whale" in an attempt to attract much-needed tourists driven off by recent militant attacks. The construction of the much-hyped Fossils and Climate Change Museum was covered a 2 billion euros (2. 17 billion dollars) grant from Italy, according to Italian Ambassador Maurizio Massari. Its centerpiece is an intact, 37-million-year-old and 20-meter-long skeleton of a legged form of whale that testifies to how modern-day whales evolved from land mammals. The sand-colored, dome-shaped museum is barely discernible in the breathtaking desert landscape that stretches all around. (Photo by Thomas Hartwell/AP Photo)

“The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian SSR, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe. It is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster)”. – Wikipedia (Photos by Alexandr Strannik, August 1986; Source: LiveJournal)

Participants learn how to survive in the wild, including tips on how to make it through a zombie invastion at a “Zombie First Responder” course March 11, 2012 in Sandy, Oregon. In an intensive 2-day curriculum participants train in everything from wilderness and urban survival, nerf or nerd weaponry, stealth and evasion, and proper zombie “disposal”. (Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

“Unexpected x2 (a.k.a. “how much is that doggie in the window”)”. Taiwan, 2011. (Photo and caption by Asian (Street) Impressions)

This picture was taken in the 1890's and shows a group of loggers hauling a heavy load. It is hard to even picture how they got the logs stacked that high. It is also hard to imagine how they keep it from tipping over.

A view of Yarimoglu sinkhole (obruk), caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer in 2009, in Konya province, Turkiye on May 15, 2025. The gigantic pit formed between the fields where intensive irrigation activities are carried out is expanding and growing every year. (Photo by Abdullah Dogan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Photographer and animal lover Chris Keeney shows how to use a PetCam with your own pet and offers expert technical know-how and inspiring creative suggestions to get you started. This is Coulee, a border collie/golden retriver mix from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Chris Keeney/Princeton Architectural Press)