Though he never actually crossed it, the Greek mathematician Pythagoras is sometimes credited with having first conceived of the Equator, calculating its location on the Earth’s sphere more than four centuries before the birth of Christ.

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

This is an interesting article on some Earth-Sun relationships that challenges the dominant north-centered normative view of how to think about our planet.  My favorite tidbit of information: “The velocity of the Earth’s rotation varies depending on where you stand: 1,000 mph at the Equator versus almost zero at the poles. That means that the fastest sunrises and sunsets on the planet occur on the Equator, and centrifugal and inertial forces are also much greater there. “

See on gizmodo.com