Rihanna attends the Balmain show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2014-2015 on February 27, 2014 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dennis Leupold/The Guardian)

Women practice yoga at a lotus pond in Tiande Lake on the International Yoga Day on June 21, 2017 in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon and reporter Alex Chappell are doused with water after the game against the Miami Marlins in Washington on August 30, 2019. (Photo by Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports)

Isabella Ferrari and Ben Ra pose for a photograph taken by Jacob deBlecourt at the City of Boston's Pride Kickoff event, celebrating the start of National LGBTQ+ Pride Month, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., June 1, 2022. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Ferrari driver Fabio Barone and his Ferrari 458 Italia competes against a Roman chariot drawn by two horses on “Ben Hur” movie set at Cinecitta World amusement park on May 11, 2017 in Castel Romano near Rome. (Photo by Andreas Solaro/AFP 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.

Yakelin Hernandez, 18, poses for a photograph near The Malecon where The Carnival was held, on August 14, 2015. Colorful costumes, dancing, parades and street parties on the Malecon in Havana, Cuba are all part of Havana Carnival 2015 which was held in August. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Vietnam’s Son Doong cave, the largest in the world, could hold a 40-story skyscraper inside. The pristine ecosystem has its own river and jungle. Despite its size, Son Doong wasn’t discovered until 1991. It was lost again for nearly two decades and was fully explored for the first time in 2009. (Photo by Jason Speth/HuffPost)