Wikipedia's first sentence called it “democratic member of the united states house of representatives from new york”. Today it says “american politician who served as a democratic member of the united states house of representatives from long i”.
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 2010 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 2010
Lester Lionel Wolff (born January 4, 1919) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York .1Wolff was born in New York City and lectured at New York University from 1939 until 1941 after studying there. He served in the Civil Air Patrol from 1945 until 1950 and from 1968 until 1980. He was elected to Congress in 1964 and served from January 3, 1965 until January 3, 1981. Through redistricting he initially represented the 3rd District and later the 6th District. He lost his bid for re-election to John LeBoutillier who was helped by Reagan's coattails in the 1980 House election .2LeBoutillier was later defeated in a bid for re-election and served only one term. In 1983, LeBoutillier was fined $7,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating Federal election laws during the course of his 1980 congressional campaign. With contributions by individuals limited to $1,000 per person, LeBoutillier accepted a $200,500 contribution from his mother. LeBoutillier's mother was also fined $7,000. Wolff is currently a resident of Muttontown, New York .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 364441397.
The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Lester Lionel Wolff (born January 4, 1919) is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York . Wolff was born in New York City and lectured at New York University from 1939 until 1941 after studying there. He served in the Civil Air Patrol from 1945 until 1950 and from 1968 until 1980. He was elected to Congress in 1964 and served from January 3, 1965 until January 3, 1981. Through redistricting he initially represented the 3rd District and later the 6th District. He lost his bid for re-election to John LeBoutillier , a Republican, in the 1980 House election .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660112727.
The opening as it stood in 2020 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Lester Lionel Wolff (born January 4, 1919) is a retired American politician and former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York .He served as president of the International Trade and Development Agency.In 2014, Wolff accepted the Congressional Gold Medal , the highest civilian award in the United States, on behalf of the World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol .Wolff is currently the oldest living former member of the House of Representatives.An expert in Asian affairs, Wolff was also the chair of the Touro College Pacific Community Institute, the author of numerous books on foreign policy , and the host of the weekly PBS show Ask Congress .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 956487587.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Lester Lionel Wolff (January 4, 1919 – May 11, 2021) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Long Island, New York. He also served as president of the International Trade and Development Agency. In 2014, Wolff accepted the Congressional Gold Medal , the highest civilian award in the United States, on behalf of World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol . An expert in Asian affairs, Wolff was the chair of the Touro College Pacific Community Institute, the author of numerous books on foreign policy , and the host of the weekly PBS show Ask Congress .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178953792.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Lester Lionel Wolff (January 4, 1919 – May 11, 2021) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Long Island, New York. He also served as president of the International Trade and Development Agency. In 2014, Wolff accepted the Congressional Gold Medal , the highest civilian award in the United States, on behalf of World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol . Wolff was the chair of the Touro College Pacific Community Institute, the author of numerous books on foreign policy , and the host of the weekly PBS show Ask Congress .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1298297790. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “democratic member of the united states house of representatives from new york”. Today it says “american politician who served as a democratic member of the united states house of representatives from long i”. 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 since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
democratic member of the united states house of representatives from new york
Now
american politician who served as a democratic member of the united states house of representatives from long i
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.
