The Wayback machine originally referred to a fictional machine from an ongoing feature of the cartoon The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show used to transport the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman back in time. It is also used as the name for part of the Internet Archive's site.

The WABAC (pronounced "wayback") machine was from the Peabody's Improbable History segment of the early '60s cartoon series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. The machine was constructed by Mr. Peabody, a professorial, bow tie-wearing dog, to be able to visit famous historical events.

At the request of Mr. Peabody, Sherman, Peabody's "pet boy" assistant, would set the WABAC machine to a time and place of historical importance, and the two would be instantly transported there. The machine apparently later returned Mr.

Peabody and Sherman to the present, although the return trip was never shown in the cartoon segment. The machine was little more than a plot device to allow the characters to visit the past. The name WABAC is a play on computer names such as UNIVAC and ENIAC that were contemporary to the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and the WABAC machine was similar in size to those early computers.

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