backdate (verb)

1. The Pope decided to backdate the new decree to the birth of Jesus, making it applicable to all Catholics throughout history.

2. The artist wanted to backdate the creation of the sculpture to give it a sense of timeless beauty.

3. The historian discovered evidence that the treaty had been backdated to make it seem as though it was signed years earlier.

4. In the science fiction novel, the author imagined a time machine that could backdate events and change the course of history.