In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “engineer who many consider to have developed long range artillery beyond what anyone else has accomplished”. Today it says “canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery”.
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 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “engineer who many consider to have developed long range artillery beyond what anyone else has accomplished”. Today it says “canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery”.
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
Gerald Vincent Bull ( March 8 , 1928 - March 22 , 1990 ) was an engineer who many consider to have developed long range artillery beyond what anyone else has accomplished. He was a driven man, who moved from project to project always chasing his dream of launching a satellite using a huge artillery piece. To this end he designed the Project Babylon " supergun " for the Iraqi government, during which he was killed (allegedly by Israeli Mossad agents) outside his home in Brussels , Belgium .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17745430.
The opening as it stood in 2010 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he designed the Project Babylon " supergun " for the Iraqi government.Bull was assassinated outside his apartment in Brussels , Belgium .It has been speculated that variously members of the Israeli intelligence agency, the Mossad , the CIA , the British, Chilean, Iraqi or South African government were behind the assassination.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370286094.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990 ) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery . He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he designed the Project Babylon " supergun " for the Iraqi government. Bull was assassinated outside his apartment in Brussels , Belgium in March 1990.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668987080.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Canadian artillery engineer and entrepreneur Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990 ) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery . He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece , to which end he designed the Project Babylon " supergun " for the Iraqi government. Bull was assassinated outside his apartment in Brussels , Belgium in March 1990. His assassination is believed to be the work of the Mossad over his work for the Iraqi government.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963109396.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Canadian artillery engineer and entrepreneur Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990 ) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery . He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece , to which end he designed the Project Babylon " supergun " for Saddam Hussein 's government in Iraq. Bull was assassinated outside his apartment in Brussels , Belgium , in March 1990. His assassination is believed to be the work of the Mossad over his work for the Iraqi government. No person has ever been charged with the murder of Bull.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1173853370.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Canadian artillery engineer and entrepreneur (1928–1990) Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990 ) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery . He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece , to which end he designed the Project Babylon " supergun " for Saddam Hussein 's government in Iraq. Bull was assassinated outside his apartment in Brussels , Belgium , in March 1990. His assassination is believed to be the work of the Mossad over his work for the Iraqi government. No person has ever been charged with his murder.The New York Times .The New York Times .The New York Times .University of Texas at Austin .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292025820. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “engineer who many consider to have developed long range artillery beyond what anyone else has accomplished”. Today it says “canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery”. Read the current article and compare.
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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 between 2005 and 2025.
Then
engineer who many consider to have developed long range artillery beyond what anyone else has accomplished
Now
canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery
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.
