Renaissance-era polymath Leonardo da Vinci may have seen a whale fossil in his youth, prompting him to speculate that Earth was enormously old
Source:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2250424-leonardo-da-vinci-saw-a-whale-fossil-that-opened-his-mind-to-deep-time/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home