In early 2011, a branch of the very rich Rothschild family bought a controlling stake in Weather Central, a provider of weather forecasts to hundreds of broadcasters.

“As weather becomes more extreme around the planet, with greater human and financial ramifications,” Sir Evelyn de Rothschild said in a news release, “we believe that Weather Central will play a major role in mitigating damage and improving lives.”

This was big news in meteorology and broadcasting circles: It appeared that the Rothschilds, a prominent business family, wanted to take on the Weather Channel to expand its media holdings.

This was also big news for conspiracy theorists: To them, it appeared as though the Rothschilds, a prominent Jewish family that made a fortune in European banking in the 1700s, wanted to control the weather and profit from natural disasters.

The Rothschilds’ supposed control of the weather — a charge peddled last week by D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) before he apologized for offending anyone — is just one of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of unproved, bizarre and anti-Semitic allegations that have been leveled against the Rothschilds for centuries.