Revealing mistake: In all the intro scenes from season 2 to season 20, episode 9, in the wideshot where Bart skateboards out of the school, if you look closely, part of the sky can be seen on the ground. (This mistake may only apply to the original format).
Revealing mistake: During the intro to some earlier episodes where Bart leaves the school, the scene pans down and the edge of the animation paper can be seen in a couple spots at the very bottom of the frame. It is blue in color. This error persisted through many seasons.
Answer: I'm not sure if this is the one you're thinking of, but an episode of "Ray Bradbury Theatre," called "A Sound of Thunder," dealt with a similar matter: a group of hunters travel back in time to hunt dinosaurs, only to find things have changed when they get back because someone stepped on a butterfly.
Xofer