Today I Found Out has an article which demonstrates the idea of a round earth was commonly held through history and that the origin of the popularly held notion that people believed in a flat earth was concocted in part to make the church look bad and in other part through fanciful historical biography.
Contrary to popular belief, not only did Columbus realize the world was round, so did his contemporaries. In fact, it was so well accepted that daring seafarers had been exploring the Atlantic for hundreds of years before Columbus’ time. Without a doubt, men of the early Renaissance knew the world was round, and that the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria were in no danger of sailing over the edge.
The ancients were well aware the world was a sphere.
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