Wikipedia's first sentence called it “author of the weblog informed comment”. Today it says “american academic and commentator on the modern middle east and south asia”. 0 accusation words in the opening on October 6 2023. Today: 1 today.
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
Cole is author of the weblog Informed Comment , which covers the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and other developments in the Middle East. He is a Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History in the History Department at the University of Michigan . Professor Cole obtained his B.A. in History and Literature of Religions at Northwestern University (1975), his M.A. in Arabic Studies/History at American University in Cairo (1978), and his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at University of California Los Angeles (1984). He was the recipient of Fulbright-Hays fellowships to India ( 1982 ) and Egypt ( 1985-1986 ). Since 1999 he has been the editor of The International Journal of Middle East Studies , and has served in professional offices for the Middle East Studies Association and the American Institute of Iranian Studies . The Politics, Culture and History of Shi`ite Islam (I.B.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16953111.
The opening as it stood in 2010 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
"Juan" Cole (born October 1952) is an American scholar , public intellectual , and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia .Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan .As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on television, and testified before the United States Senate .He has published several peer-reviewed books on the modern Middle East and is a translator of both Arabic and Persian .Since 2002, he has written a weblog , Informed Comment .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 344078418.
The opening as it stood in 2015 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
" Juan " Cole (born October 23, 1952) is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia . Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669455636.
The opening as it stood in 2020
" Juan " Cole (born October 23, 1952) is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia . Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 947359550.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
American scholar John Ricardo Irfan " Juan " Cole (born October 23, 1952) is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia . Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan . The Lessons of Juan Cole" .The Chronicle of Higher Education .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177678801.
The opening as it stood in 2025
American scholar John Ricardo Irfan " Juan " Cole (born October 23, 1952) is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia . Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan . The Lessons of Juan Cole" . The Chronicle of Higher Education .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292263562. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “author of the weblog informed comment”. Today it says “american academic and commentator on the modern middle east and south asia”. 0 accusation words in the opening on October 6 2023. Today: 1 today. 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
author of the weblog informed comment
Now
american academic and commentator on the modern middle east and south asia
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.
