Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 48 minutes ago
Did people in the past really think the EARTH WAS FLAT? In this flat earth documentary from History Calling I look at the historical precedents for the flat earth theory and demonstrate that actually, people living many hundreds, even thousands of years ago, long before Christopher Columbus sailed to America, already knew that the Earth is round and would have laughed the crackpot conspiracy theorists who denied it out of the building. I’ll share some knowledge of the ancients with you, including quotes and images from the classical and medieval period to prove that the shape of the earth was widely known long before humans had the benefit of images and footage of the planet taken from space. And how did people know the earth was round? Well because then, as now, one could see the curvature of the earth from many points on land and from boats, never mind from airplanes, rockets, spaceships and the International Space Station. Sources will include the writings of Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder and the Venerable Bede. Though there were some who held to flat earth beliefs, like Lactantius, they were in the minority of ‘learned’ men.
Given this surfeit of information, why then is there a perception that our medieval ancestors thought the planet was flat? To answer this we’ll look at the works of nineteenth and twentieth century writers like Washington Irving and at how their anti-religious vendettas did far more to distort people’s understanding of history and knowledge than the Catholic Church they sought to discredit ever did. We’ll also ask how can real historians and real scientists fight the pseudo-historians, pseudo-scientists and anti-scientists so that even more people don’t get sucked into the downward spiral of stupidity that is flat earth myth?
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
THE MYTHICAL ISLAND OF HY BRASIL
youtu.be/_74GYWj9NuE
LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
youtu.be/KECfzn6FbwU
THE PARTHENON MARBLES
youtu.be/4petLw58Ofg
HISTORY OF THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY
youtu.be/Xd-v7O-ZrMw
LEARN MORE:
Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth
Edward Brooke-Hitching, The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps (2016) amzn.to/3zs8XqK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3Au35yt (US LINK)
JUST FOR FUN:
The Earth is definitely not flat
youtube.com/watch?v=tC5RalYWZ5Y
David Mitchell's Hilarious Rant On The Flat Earth Society | The Graham Norton Show
youtube.com/watch?v=iYZbQIXoVMY
GEAR USED
DJI Drone: amzn.to/38h1vXr (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/39hROZm (US LINK)
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3EPIK9U (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rTWScL (US LINK)
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/37CdC1r (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3vaVxjU (US LINK)
Memory Card: amzn.to/36QvcOQ (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3KeLZZs (US LINK)
Microphone: amzn.to/3MFtoaK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rYtjH8 (US LINK)
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Did people in the past really think the EARTH WAS FLAT? In this flat earth documentary from History Calling I look at the historical precedents for the flat earth theory and demonstrate that actually, people living many hundreds, even thousands of years ago, long before Christopher Columbus sailed to America, already knew that the Earth is round and would have laughed the crackpot conspiracy theorists who denied it out of the building. I’ll share some knowledge of the ancients with you, including quotes and images from the classical and medieval period to prove that the shape of the earth was widely known long before humans had the benefit of images and footage of the planet taken from space. And how did people know the earth was round? Well because then, as now, one could see the curvature of the earth from many points on land and from boats, never mind from airplanes, rockets, spaceships and the International Space Station. Sources will include the writings of Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder and the Venerable Bede. Though there were some who held to flat earth beliefs, like Lactantius, they were in the minority of ‘learned’ men.
Given this surfeit of information, why then is there a perception that our medieval ancestors thought the planet was flat? To answer this we’ll look at the works of nineteenth and twentieth century writers like Washington Irving and at how their anti-religious vendettas did far more to distort people’s understanding of history and knowledge than the Catholic Church they sought to discredit ever did. We’ll also ask how can real historians and real scientists fight the pseudo-historians, pseudo-scientists and anti-scientists so that even more people don’t get sucked into the downward spiral of stupidity that is flat earth myth?
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
THE MYTHICAL ISLAND OF HY BRASIL
youtu.be/_74GYWj9NuE
LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
youtu.be/KECfzn6FbwU
THE PARTHENON MARBLES
youtu.be/4petLw58Ofg
HISTORY OF THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY
youtu.be/Xd-v7O-ZrMw
LEARN MORE:
Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth
Edward Brooke-Hitching, The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps (2016) amzn.to/3zs8XqK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3Au35yt (US LINK)
JUST FOR FUN:
The Earth is definitely not flat
youtube.com/watch?v=tC5RalYWZ5Y
David Mitchell's Hilarious Rant On The Flat Earth Society | The Graham Norton Show
youtube.com/watch?v=iYZbQIXoVMY
GEAR USED
DJI Drone: amzn.to/38h1vXr (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/39hROZm (US LINK)
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3EPIK9U (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rTWScL (US LINK)
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/37CdC1r (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3vaVxjU (US LINK)
Memory Card: amzn.to/36QvcOQ (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3KeLZZs (US LINK)
Microphone: amzn.to/3MFtoaK (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/3rYtjH8 (US LINK)
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
