Social Studies: How big?

Some may think that Christopher Columbus had many arguments with scholars whether the earth was round or flat. If you feel that way you've fooled by Washington Irving.

It was common knowledge by Columbus' that the earth was round Aristotle discovered the earth was round two thousand years earlier, he pointed out that the earth casts a circular shadow on the moon.

The real debate was the size of the earth. Columbus ended up wrong, with his theory that the sail to India would be short.

Irving's version made Columbus the hero overcoming myth and superstition.

Sources:
The Greatest Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer