Related question, when did this phrase come into common usage and how has use of it waxed and waned across the years?

This submission has been removed because it violates the rule on poll-type questions. These poll-type questions do not lend themselves to answers with a firm foundation in sources and research, and the resulting threads usually turn into monsters with enormous speculation and little focussed discussion. “Most”, “least”, "best" and "worst" questions usually lead to vague, subjective, and speculative answers.

For questions of these types, we ask that you redirect them to more appropriate subreddits, such as /r/history or /r/askhistory.