https://archive.org/details/CIADOC1035960/page/n3/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/img_53510_3_300
Conspiracy theories have a long history, but the actual term “conspiracy theory” emerged much more recently. It was only a few decades ago that the term took on the derogatory connotations it has today, where to call someone a conspiracy theorist functions as an insult.