Humans as a whole tend to distrust anything new, or anything outside their communities' long-held traditions. Those in power felt particularly threatened by anything outside the norm, because people willing to think outside the box or try something new might just be a threat to them. And in many bygone societies, the punishment might be death. YouTuber Chill Dude Explains (previously at Neatorama) has eleven examples of things that are commonplace today, but were once a threat to civilization. Not all of them would necessarily lead to a death sentence, but they were pretty serious transgressions. Well, maybe not potatoes- the consequence of death was natural if you didn't know how to use them properly. Some of these activities could be overlooked on their own, but were used as additional evidence in a witchcraft trial, which led to death. There is a serious lack of dates connected to each story, and a location is rare, but I've posted about enough of these to know they are real.
I try hard to avoid getting my information from sources regularly mixed with false information. But to each their own.