The word 'geography' was coined by the first man to measure the Earth.

240 BC

Eratosthenes, chief librarian at Alexandria, introduced the terms 'geography' and 'geographer', and was also first to calculate the tilt of Earth's axis.

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The event

• Eratosthenes measures the Earthc. 240 BC · Syene. Eratosthenes, head of the Library of Alexandria, compared noon shadows at Syene and Alexandria on the summer solstice and calculated the Earth's circumference. His result was remarkably close to the true value.

3rd century BC

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