Historic popularity and sailing ships don't matter much here. Many popular IPAs nowadays are being dry-hopped with hop varieties that were selectively bred within the last 20 years. These hop varieties simply taste/smell a lot better than what was used before and many people really like the results. If anything, IPAs are actually trending more towards the average pallet today. Brewers are making more approachable fruity New England style IPAs and fewer bitter, super high IBU double/triple IPAs.