The word “colonial” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak in 2015. Today the opening carries none. 1 remains further down the article, where a reader arriving from a search result does not go.
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. “colonial” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 1.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 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 2015
Jamil Sahid Mohamed Khalil (born 1936 in Freetown , Sierra Leone ) was a Lebanese - Sierra Leonean businessman and diamond tycoon who made millions of dollars in the diamond trade, fisheries, tourism and an airline. He was exiled from Sierra Leone amidst accusations of a coup plot in 1987 before returning to Freetown few years later and fleeing the country again after the Freetown invasion in 1999. Jamil Sahid Mohamed Khalil built his vast fortune exporting diamonds to Antwerp during the 1970s and 1980s. He was arguably the most successful Lebanese trader in West Africa. As a result of his activities, he became one of the richest and most powerful men in Africa. However, along with, then-President Siaka Stevens , he is widely accused to have played a major role in the destruction of the Sierra Leonean economy, leaving a legacy of poverty in his wake. Jamil Sahid Mohamed Khalil was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone to a Sierra Leonean father of Lebanese descent. Emigrants from Lebanon had begun flocking to West Africa in the late 1890s, where they were welcomed by British colonial authorities who saw them as a tool with which to break the hold of the increasingly nationalist-conscious local merchant class on trade with the interior in places such as the Crown Colony of Freetown. Over time, a combination of governmental favour and their own hard work, resulted in the Lebanese achieving dominance not only of the commerce in manufactured goods, but also control of the trade in natural resource commodities like the fable alluvial diamonds of Sierra Leone. The Lebanese in West Africa have become the region's "market-dominant minority," to borrow a term popularised by Yale Law School professor Amy Chua in her study of free market democracy and global instability, World on Fire. As Chua herself observed, "the extent of Lebanese market dominance in Sierra Leone – historically and at present – is astounding." The Lebanese trading community was a leftover import from Sierra Leone's British Colonial era. All Africa – subscription required Strategic Interests by J.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 668187031.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Jamil Sahid Mohamed (born 1936 in Freetown , Sierra Leone ) is a Sierra Leonean businessman who made millions of dollars in diamond trade. He was exiled from Sierra Leone twice amidst accusations of a coup plot in 1987 and later for war profiteering . Mohamed built his fortune smuggling diamonds out of Sierra Leone during the 1970s and 1980s. He is widely regarded as the father of the Sierra Leone blood diamond trade. As a result of his activities he became one of the richest men in Africa. Along with Siaka Stevens , he is widely regarded to have played a major role in the destruction of the Sierra Leone economy, leaving a senseless legacy of death and poverty in his wake. Jamil Sahid Mohamed was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone to a Sierra Leonean father of Lebanese descent and an indigenous Sierra Leonean mother from the Mandingo ethnic group. All Africa - subscription required Strategic Interests by J.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 346166140.
The opening as it stood in 2020 12 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jamil Sahid Mohamed Khalil (1936 - 2000) was a Sierra Leonean-Lebanese businessman, diamonds and commodities trader.He attained prominence in the diamond industry across Africa and Antwerp and became an influential figure in the politics of Sierra Leone through his close association with President Siaka Stevens .Jamil also came to dominate other business sectors including fisheries, tourism construction and aviation.In 1987, he and several prominent politicians, including Vice President Francis Minah , were implicated, convicted and sentenced to death in the failed assassination plot against President Joseph Momoh .Jamil escaped and was exiled from Sierra Leone.He returned to Freetown before leaving it again during the 1999 RUF invasion.Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 939263726. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“colonial” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 1. Read the current article and compare.
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 between 2010 and 2025.
Then
sierra leonean businessman who made millions of dollars in diamond trade
Now
sierra leonean-lebanese businessman
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.
