4. Columbus Proved the Earth Was Round
A lot of people were taught that Christopher Columbus bravely sailed west to prove the Earth was round while everyone else thought he would fall off the edge. It is a dramatic story, but it gives Columbus credit for proving something educated Europeans already knew.
The real dispute was not about whether the Earth was round. It was about how large the Earth was and how far it was to Asia by sailing west. Columbus badly underestimated that distance. He did not “prove” the Earth was round. He reached the Americas while thinking he had found a route to Asia.
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