When did people stop believing the Earth is flat?
Short answer: Some time before 500 BC.
Long answer: It's a common misconception that people thought the Earth was flat until the middle ages. Although many people did believe this (and some still do), educated people have known that the Earth is spherical since at least a few hundred years before the birth of Jesus.
One of the first recorded examples of this knowledge comes from ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras around 500 B.C.. Although we can't be sure if it was Pythagoras himself who wrote about it, records from the time indicate that a spherical Earth was the standard world view in his school. Certainly, it was the mainstream view of Greek writers from that time onwards.
Greek mathematician Eratosthenes even made a good estimate of the size of the Earth in about 240 B.C.
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Author: Dave Owen