“People used to believe the Earth was flat before Christopher Columbus.”

The idea that people once widely believed the Earth was flat, only to be corrected by Christopher Columbus, is a persistent historical misconception. This common myth largely gained traction thanks to Washington Irving's highly romanticized 1828 biography, "A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus." Irving's fictionalized account depicted Columbus dramatically arguing for a spherical Earth against ignorant churchmen who feared he would sail off the edge. This narrative, while compelling, was a literary embellishment, serving to paint Columbus as a heroic figure challenging outdated beliefs.

In reality, the sphericity of the Earth was well-established by educated people long before Columbus's voyage. Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Pythagoras and Aristotle, offered arguments for a round Earth as early as the 5th century BC, with Aristotle observing the circular shadow of the Earth on the moon during lunar eclipses and the way ships disappear hull-first over the horizon. Later, around 240 BC, Eratosthenes accurately calculated the Earth's circumference. This knowledge was preserved and widely accepted by scholars throughout the Middle Ages in Europe and the Islamic world.

The debate during Columbus's time was not about the Earth's shape, but rather its size and the distance to Asia by sailing west. Columbus significantly underestimated the Earth's circumference, believing it to be much smaller than the figures accepted by most contemporary scholars, who had more accurate estimates based on ancient Greek calculations. His erroneous calculations, combined with an overestimation of Asia's eastward extent, led him to believe a westward journey to the Indies was feasible. The enduring belief in the flat Earth myth stems from its dramatic appeal and its use in 19th-century narratives that sought to portray a conflict between science and religious dogma.