Wikipedia's first sentence called it “british soldier and colonial official”. Today it says “scottish soldier”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Detail Lieutenant Colonel Sir”. It now reads “British soldier and colonial administrator Sir”.
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 2026-08-04.
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
John Robert Chancellor ( 1870 – 1952 ) was a British soldier and colonial official.1After a career in the British Army he became a colonial administrator serving as governor of Mauritius ( 1911 – 1916 ), Trinidad and Tobago ( 1916 – 1921 ) and Southern Rhodesia ( 1923 – 1928 ). He was knighted in 1913 . In 1928 he became High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine where he was perceived as being cool to Zionism . While he was in London in 1929 , Arab riots protesting Jewish immigration broke out. On his return he initially condemned Arab attacks but was subsequently less critical. He helped write the Lord Passfield's White Paper of 1930 which aimed to reinterpret the Balfour Declaration in order to back away from a commitment to the creation of a Jewish state. He left Palestine in 1931 .2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16890244.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Robert Chancellor , GCMG , GCVO , GBE , DSO (1870–1952) was a British soldier and colonial official.After a career in the British Army 's Corps of Royal Engineers , which included service on the North West Frontier and being Secretary of the Colonial Defence Committee , he became a colonial administrator serving as the 20th Governor of Mauritius from 13 Sep 1911 to 28 Jan 1916 , Trinidad and Tobago (1916 –1921) and Southern Rhodesia (1923–1928).He also served as Principal Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence From 1922–1923.In 1898 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).In 1909 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George .He was knighted in the 1913 King's Birthday Honours when he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).In the 1922 Dissolution Honours List he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG). In 1928, he became High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine , where he was perceived as being cool to Zionism . He was appointed a Knight of Justice in the Venerable Order of Saint John on 19 December 1928. While he was in London in 1929, Arab riots protesting Jewish immigration broke out. On his return, he initially condemned Arab attacks but was subsequently less critical. He helped write the Lord Passfield's White Paper of 1930, which aimed to reinterpret the Balfour Declaration in order to back away from a commitment to the creation of a Jewish state. He left Palestine in 1931. In 1937 he was appointed chairman of the Livestock Commission , which was set up following the passing of the Livestock Industry Act, 1937 .In the 1947 King's Birthday Honours he was created a Knight Grand Cross in the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for services to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.The London Gazette ( invalid |supp= ( help ) ). 10 November 1922.The London Gazette ( invalid |supp= ( help ) ). 6 June 1947.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 368425231.
The opening as it stood in 2015 16 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Chancellor in Palestine, 1931. Detail Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Robert Chancellor , GCMG , GCVO , GBE , DSO (1870–1952) was a British soldier and colonial official.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660643534.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
British soldier and colonial administrator Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Robert Chancellor GCMG , GCVO , GBE , DSO (20 October 1870 – 31 July 1952) was a Scottish soldier and colonial administrator .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297329859. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “british soldier and colonial official”. Today it says “scottish soldier”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Detail Lieutenant Colonel Sir”. It now reads “British soldier and colonial administrator Sir”. 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
british soldier and colonial official
Now
scottish soldier
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.
