Yes, this is based in history. The British went through numerous versions of the phonetic alphabet and during the WWI period, it was indeed Apples, Butter, Charlie, Duff, etc. Tables here

Due to issues with differences in the phonetic alphabet, and difficulty in pronouncing certain words, after WW2, the newly formed International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) drafted up a new phonetic alphabet, which is frequently called the NATO alphabet as NATO was one of the first major organizations to adopt it in full for all of its militaries. History here from ICAO