That's very interesting. I'll have to do a little research and confirm that for myself. It does lead to another question, though... what did they believe BEFORE they thought the earth was curved? Is it your assertion that it was NEVER taught that the earth was flat? I wonder... It seems such a logical conclusion for a primitive culture to make. If they knew it was round from the beginning... how did they know?
Still, it's really irrelavent isn't it. The main point is that science has been convinced about issues when it was actually wrong. Science is fallable. In some cases science has even been incredibly resistant to "proof" that it was wrong. If the "flat earth" is not a valid example then go find one. There are plenty out there. It's even possible to be wrong despite massive amounts of evidence.
And I have to agree with this point in general. There's a lot of misinformation out there. Some of it is even touted as being backed by scientific fact. In general, it pays to be a skeptic.
Of course, on the other hand, even though the race doesn't always go to the swift... you should probably bet that way unless you have very good reason not to.