Who disproved the Ptolemaic theory of the universe?

Nicolaus Copernicus' 16th-century assertion that the Ptolemaic theory of the solar system was wrong was considered revolutionary. However, his published findings in 1514 weren't widely accepted because his studies were based on naked-eye observations. Galileo Galilei used a telescope to disprove the Earth-centered solar system.

The first suggestion that the sun was the center of the solar system actually came from ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus in 270 B.C. His notion was dismissed by the Catholic Church. By observing relative positions and rotations of the sun, moon, Jupiter and Venus, Galileo was able to prove that sun and other planets don't rotate around the Earth.