Gavin Andersen tried to increase the block size back in 2015 and was met with fierce resistance.

It appears other developers were changing the Core code to purposely break his commit.

Here is his commit:

https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/6341

Some notable comments:

https://preview.redd.it/qelfnxv866791.png?width=936&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e318036a2dc3ee93b32363fefc960795a6f4c29

https://preview.redd.it/ulo9dogc66791.png?width=941&format=png&auto=webp&s=37ba1d3a6f18befb3fb60ed3ef18c19efe1f6c2f