1918 had some cities implement lockdowns as a response to the rapidly spreading Spanish Flu. And then there were anti-lockdown protests which caused some cities to lift their lockdowns early and the virus surged. Business owners also railed against the lockdowns, and were sometimes successful in getting them lifted.

There was a similar situation with mandatory masks, and then loud anti-mask protests which resulted in the lifting of some mask mandates.

What happened over the past two years has happened before, and will probably happen again. You can find examples of lockdowns in other pandemic eras. Venice partially locked down in 1575 due to the plague.

You may disagree with lockdowns, but there's plenty of precedent. Your "fact" is incorrect.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/how-citie...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/breaking-poin...

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/historical-precedents-lock...