The term "backtrack" was coined by American mathematician D. H. Lehmer in the 1950s.
An infamous and rare example of where backtracking was used for large commercial aircraft was the Tenerife airport disaster, where two Boeing 747s at Tenerife North Airport were required to backtaxi in order to position themselves for take-off.
Starting with 1997's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the Castlevania series of video games borrows the backtracking and weapon upgrading elements from Super Metroid, leading to the term "Metroidvania".