Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american financial”. Today it says “american banker”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American financier, first president of the World Bank, 5th Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the United States”. It now reads “American financier and newspaper publisher (1875–1959)”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Eugene Isaac Meyer ( October 31 , 1875 – July 17 , 1959 ) was an American financial, public official, and newspaper publisher.1He is best remembered as the father of Katharine Graham . Born in Los Angeles, California , he was the son of Marc Eugene and Harriet (Newmark) Meyer. He grew up in San Francisco, California and attended college across the bay at the University of California , but he dropped out after one year and later enrolled at Yale University . He received his A.B. in 1895 . He went to work for Lazard Freres --his father was a partner there--but quit in 1901 after four years and struck out on his own. He was a successful speculator and purchased a seat on the New York Stock Exchange . By the time he was forty, he was worth $40 million. He married Agnes Elizabeth Ernst in 1910 and they had five children. He went to Washington, D.C. during the First World War as a "dollar a year man" for Woodrow Wilson , becoming the head of the War Finance Corporation and served there long after the end of hostilities. President Calvin Coolidge named him as chairman of the Federal Farm Loan Board in 1927 and Herbert Hoover promoted him to chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 1930 . He served in that capacity from September 16 , 1930 to May 10 , 1933 . He strongly supported government relief to combat the Great Depression taking on an additional post as chief of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation , Hoover's unsuccessful attempt to aid the accompany by providing loans to businesses. Roosevelt 's inauguration, he resigned his government posts in 1933 . Months later he bought The Washington Post at a bankruptcy auction, the paper having been ruined by its spendthrift socialite owner, Ned McLean . Meyer turned the paper around and made it a success. The paper, thanks to Meyer's friendship with the British Ambassador, Lord Lothian , scooped the world on reporting of Edward VIII 's relationship with Wallis Simpson . After World War II , Harry Truman named Meyer head of the World Bank in June 1946 , and he appointed his son-in-law, Philip S. Meyer returned to the Post, however, after only six months and served as its chairman until his death in Washington.2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16738282.
The opening as it stood in 2010 18 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was an American financier, public official, publisher of the Washington Post newspaper.He was the father of publisher Katharine Graham .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 363334221.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was an American financier, public official, and newspaper publisher. He was the publisher of the Washington Post newspaper.He also served as the first President of the World Bank Group .He was the father of publisher Katharine Graham and portrait photographer Florence Meyer .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668305814.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American financier, first president of the World Bank, 5th Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the United States Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was an American financier, public official, and newspaper publisher.He published The Washington Post from 1933 to 1946, and the paper stayed in his family throughout the rest of the 20th century.He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933 and was the first President of the World Bank Group .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 954405269.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
American financier and newspaper publisher (1875–1959) Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was an American banker, businessman, financier, and newspaper publisher.Through his public career, he served as the 5th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933 and was the first president of the World Bank Group from June to December 1946. Meyer published The Washington Post from 1933 to 1946, and the paper stayed in his family throughout the rest of the 20th century. His daughter, Katharine "Kay" Graham , took the Post over in 1963 and remained its titular head until her death in 2001.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171888894.
The opening as it stood in 2025
American financier and newspaper publisher (1875–1959) Eugene Isaac Meyer (October 31, 1875 – July 17, 1959) was a prominent American banker, businessman, financier, and newspaper publisher. His most notable public service role was as the fifth chairman of the Federal Reserve , a position he held from 1930 to 1933.Meyer purchased The Washington Post in 1933, and was its publisher from 1933 to 1946, with the paper staying in his family throughout the rest of the 20th century. He was the first president of the World Bank Group from June to December 1946. His daughter, Katharine "Kay" Graham , took the Post over in 1963 and remained its head until her death in 2001.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1293993014. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american financial”. Today it says “american banker”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American financier, first president of the World Bank, 5th Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the United States”. It now reads “American financier and newspaper publisher (1875–1959)”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
american financial
Now
american banker
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
