17th

This myth likely arose when a 17th century Danish scholar called Ole Worm mistranslated a reference to animal horns.

Let’s go back to the 17th century, when one writer turned to the animal kingdom to talk about a very human subject: slavery.

But before I tell you how this futuristic idea works, we should first recognize that it has a deep and fascinating history dating back to the 17th century, where a mathematician actually laid out the road map with stunning foresight.