Actually the ancient Greeks were the first to realize the world was round.
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The astronomer Copernicus publicly stated in the 1500s that Earth revolves around the Sun, contrary to the prevailing belief at the time that the Earth was the center of the universe. This heliocentric model laid the foundation for modern astronomy and challenged the geocentric view established by Ptolemy.
Nicolaus Copernicus < NOVA NET ANSWER
1500s
Kepler's assumptions about orbits differed from Copernicus in that Kepler proposed that planetary orbits were elliptical rather than circular. Copernicus had assumed circular orbits in his heliocentric model of the universe. Kepler's discovery of elliptical orbits led to his three laws of planetary motion.
Aristrachus of SamosThe first man to theorize that the Earth revolved around the sun is believed to be Nicolas Copernicus. In the 1500s he speculated that rather than the sun circling the Earth, the Earth may actually orbit the sun.
This belief was known as the geocentric theory, which proposed that the Earth was the stationary center of the universe, with all celestial bodies revolving around it. This theory dominated scientific thought until the development of the heliocentric model by astronomers such as Copernicus and Galileo in the 16th century.