In the midst of the Industrial Revolution, a group of eccentric gentlemen decided that something was amiss. They banded together, forming the Committee of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Their aim: to prevent the world from descending into anarchy and despair.
The Committee's first act: preventing the Great London Fire of 1851. They also foiled the plans of Napoleon III, saving Europe from another war. And, of course, they stopped the invention of the first steam-powered toaster.
During WWI, the Committee's leader, a certain Lord Reginald, went missing in action. The Committee's reputation suffered. They were thought to be nothing more than a group of retired, eccentric gentlemen playing pranks on each other.
The Committee of Extraordinary Gentlemen, re-founded by a group of young, bespectacled men in a secret, underground lair, set out to right the wrongs of the past. They foiled the plans of the evil Dr. Vortex, saved the world from a global pandemic, and prevented the invention of the first self-driving toaster.
In 2001, the Committee of Extraordinary Gentlemen, now a modern organization with a website and everything, set out to prevent the rise of the robot uprising, save the world from climate change, and... well, prevent the invention of the first smart toaster.