Hotel staff practice self-defence skills after a training session given by team member of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 7, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

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 submerged statue of the Hindu Lord Shiva stands amid the flooded waters of river Ganges at Rishikesh in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand June 17, 2013. Early monsoon rains have swollen the Ganges, India's longest river, swept away houses, killed at least 60 people and left tens of thousands stranded, officials said on June 18, 2013. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Adolf Hitler (left), German Nazi politician, in a deck chair next to is niece Angela (Geli) Raubal – around 1930. (Photo by Ullstein Bild/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

Caesar McCool, a therapy llama nicknamed the “No Drama Llama” and his handler Larry McCool greet a driver in a McLaren at the site of ongoing protests against police violence and racial inequality, in Portland, Oregon, U.S., August 6, 2020. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Reuters)

Texas state troopers in riot gear try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Austin, Texas, April 24, 2024. (Photo by Jay Janner/USA Today Network via Reuters)

Zozibini Tunzi, of South Africa, is crowned Miss Universe by her predecessor, Catriona Gray of the Philippines, at the 2019 Miss Universe pageant at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. December 8, 2019. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters)

Respect, Kronotsky nature reserve, Russia. The photographer’s cat, Ryska – her name means little lynx in Russian – stands outside their cabin and with aggressive posturing warns off a fox. In winter, foxes would regularly visit the cabin searching for food. If one peered in at the window, possible when the snow was deep, Ryska would sit on the other side, fur raised, and growl. When outside, she would hold her ground. The foxes were not always frightened and so encounters could be a sort of dance. (Photo by Igor Shpilenok/Unforgettable Behaviour/NHM)