While there have been times in the distant past when Arctic sea ice extent was lower than today's, the current sea ice extent is the lowest in the past several thousand years. (skepticalscience.com)
Perhaps there was a huge flood at some time in the distant past. (redeeminggod.com)
Looked at positively, this «life for life, eye for eye» sentiment no doubt marked an advance in juridical concept and practice at some time in the distant past, in the sense that it limited damages. (religion-online.org)