In 1851, a French physicist suspended a metal ball from a 67-metre wire, and it became one of the first direct proofs that the Earth rotates

• Image: AI GeneratedMost of us accept that the Earth rotates because we have been taught it since childhood.
• We have seen satellite images, watched footage from space and learned about day and night.
• But imagine living in the middle of the 19th century, when none of that evidence existed.