Such ideas seem to have seeped somewhat into the popular consciousness, suggesting that the understanding of Earth as a globe is a far more recent idea. The birth of the Modern Age was popular amongst many writers, even if such concepts were not always accurate. American national myth-making was highly active during the first half of the 19 th century, and a trend to suggest that the founding of the New World represented not only new opportunities, but also a break from outdated ideas. The other source is the 1919 edition of Boy’s and Girl’s Reader, which began with the line: ‘When Columbus lived, people thought the Earth was flat’. Irving claimed Columbus’s incentive to navigate the globe was to prove that it was in fact a globe, and not flat as many at the time allegedly believed. One is the 1828 work A History of The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus by Washington Irving, an early example of historical fiction, aimed at retelling the adventures of the famous explorer. Much of the belief that those 500 years ago believed in a flat Earth comes from two sources. However the idea that many during the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat is a myth that seems common even today.
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The understanding that Earth is a large, roughly round-shaped object can be dated back to the 6 th Century BCE.
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Generally speaking, very few people, and certainly not many with a decent education, have considered the concept of the Earth being a flat plane (rather than a spherical ball), for a very long time.