When was it discovered that the Earth was spherical and not flat?

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Actually, Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician, was the first to discover this fact in 240 BC. I don't see why so many people on the internet are content with spreading misinformation with such blatant ferocity.

Here's a link to help anyone looking for actual information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes#Eratosthenes.27_measurement_of_the_earth.27s_circumference

There are also several videos you can find through the Discovery Channel that address this information.
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In reply to:

Some early societies saw the Earth as a curved disk on the oceans, because of the "horizon" effect and the variation in constellations in northern and southern regions.
But the Greeks first adopted as fact that the Earth was a sphere. Pythagoras, Herodotus, and Plato all alluded to it. Aristotle (384-322 BC) presented physical observations in support of the theory. One was that astronomers could see a round shadow on the moon during a lunar eclipse.
The computation of Earth's size by the Indian mathematician Aryabhata (476-550 AD) was translated by the time of Columbus's voyage, but somehow did not indicate to all Europeans the true extent of the unexplored Western Hemisphere.

First answer by Artvegan. Last edit by Jilleen16. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributorrecommended]. Question popularity: 7 [recommend question].