In 1838, Samuel Birley Rowbotham waded into the shallow waters of England’s Old Bedford River to conduct an experiment. His findings would conclude, according to him, that the Earth was flat. His teachings have since sparked a movement of believers called the "flat earthers."
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Yesterday
Winchester Mystery House: Ghosts, Legends, and Hoaxes
If you’ve heard of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, you’ve surely heard the rumors about its famous owner, Sarah Winchester. Like the claims she was an eccentric hermit who never left her 24,000-square-foot mansion. Or that she demanded construction crews wor ... Show More
47m 59s
Oct 7
Panic in the Streets: The War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast
On Halloween Eve, 1938 Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds aired on CBS radio. It detailed an alien invasion so realistic that, according to legend, it caused widespread panic among listeners. People really believed aliens were invading Earth. The mass hysteria is an important pa ... Show More
47m 40s
Apr 2021
What is the Rowbotham experiment?
Long before Magellan completed the first circumnavigation of the globe, in the 16th century, ancient Greek scientists had demonstrated, by simple observation, that the Earth was round, or rather spherical. Of course, this did not prevent some people from believing that our planet ... Show More
2m 18s