If we can’t feel it, how did people figure out that Earth is rotating?

On the most basic level, once people realized that Earth is a planet orbiting the Sun, it became obvious that Earth had to be rotating, because that was the only way to explain day and night. On a deeper level, we can make observations that directly prove that Earth is rotating. There are two main types of observation that do this. The first uses something called a Foucault pendulum, which you can see at many science museums. If Earth weren’t rotating, the pendulum would always keep the same orientation, but it doesn’t: Instead, the orientation shifts over the course of the day, proving that Earth rotates. The second type of observation comes from something called the Coriolis effect, which is what causes the swirling motions of storms like hurricanes. Indeed, if Earth weren’t rotating, it would not be possible to have such storms, to their existence is another form of direct proof that Earth rotates.