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> this is why everyone was sure for centuries that the Earth is flat

Nope. There was a pretty smooth transition from "Nobody has ever wondered about this" to "All educated people know it's a ball shape" a very, very long time ago.

Eratosthenes comes up with a pretty good approximation both for how big the ball is, and how much its axis is off (you also if you think about it realise the planet must be spinning, that's why there's a day-night cycle)

Flat Earthers are a weird modern thing, they aren't somehow a remnant.





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