Fact or Fiction: Columbus and the Flat Earth

I love doing research... unfortunately, it's on strange or odd facts that really don't matter. Today's post takes on a common misconception. Thanks to a story, there is a belief that is still widely accepted as historical fact and it's wrong.

Today, there is a belief that people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat. Supposedly, it took one man to prove them wrong.... A sailor named Christopher Columbus.

The fact: The earliest mention that medieval people believed that the Earth was flat is found in the book, The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, written by American writer Washington Irving (noted for other such historically accurate accounts as Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow).

The ancient Greeks knew that the earth was a sphere. It's interesting that NASA knows the facts, but some history books (and even a former President) gets it wrong.

So... what did you grow up believing? Have you done your research?

~Matt

http://www.textbookleague.org/26flat.htm

http://reasonableanswers.blogspot.com/2008/12/do-you-believe-flat-earth-myth.html

http://www.livescience.com/16468-christopher-columbus-myths-flat-earth-discovered-americas.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/busting-a-myth-about-columbus-and-a-flat-earth/2011/10/10/gIQAXszQaL_blog.html