Wikipedia's first sentence called it “university professor in history and art history at columbia university”. Today it says “english historian and television presenter”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “British historian (born 1945) Sir”. It now reads “English historian (born 1945) 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 2026-08-03.
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
His many works on history and art include Landscape and Memory , Dead Certainties , Rembrandt's Eyes , and his history of the French Revolution , Citizens .1He is best known for writing and hosting the 15‑part BBC documentary series A History of Britain .2He was an art and cultural critic for The New Yorker .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16319475.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Simon Michael Schama , CBE (born 13 February 1945 in London) is a British historian and art historian .He is a professor at Columbia University . He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain . Other works on history and art include The Embarrassment of Riches , Landscape and Memory , Dead Certainties , Rembrandt's Eyes , and his history of the French Revolution , Citizens .Schama is an art and cultural critic for The New Yorker .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369641540.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Simon Michael Schama , CBE (born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history , Dutch history , and French history .He first came to popular public attention with his history of the French Revolution titled Citizens , published in 1989.In the United Kingdom, he is perhaps best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC television documentary series A History of Britain broadcast between 2000 and 2002.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666421421.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Sir Simon Michael Schama CBE FBA FRSL ( / ˈ ʃ æ m ə / ; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history , Dutch history , Jewish history and French history . He first came to public attention with his history of the French Revolution titled Citizens , published in 1989. In the United Kingdom, he is perhaps best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC television documentary series A History of Britain broadcast between 2000 and 2002. "Observer review: A History of Britain by Simon Schama" . the Guardian .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963328869.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
British historian (born 1945) Sir Simon Michael Schama CBE FBA FRHistS FRSL ( / ˈ ʃ ɑː m ə / SHAH -mə ; born 13 February 1945) is a British historian specialising in art history , Dutch history , Jewish history , and French history .He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University . He first came to public attention with his history of the French Revolution titled Citizens , published in 1989. In the United Kingdom, he is perhaps best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC television documentary series A History of Britain broadcast between 2000 and 2002.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176566090.
The opening as it stood in 2025
English historian (born 1945) Sir Simon Michael Schama CBE FBA FRHistS FRSL ( / ˈ ʃ ɑː m ə / SHAH -mə ; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian and television presenter. He specialises in art history , Dutch history , Jewish history , and French history . He is a professor of history and art history at Columbia University . Schama first came to public attention with his history of the French Revolution titled Citizens , published in 1989. He is also known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC television documentary series A History of Britain (2000–2002), as well as other documentary series such as The American Future: A History (2008) and The Story of the Jews (2013).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1293289571. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “university professor in history and art history at columbia university”. Today it says “english historian and television presenter”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “British historian (born 1945) Sir”. It now reads “English historian (born 1945) 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
university professor in history and art history at columbia university
Now
english historian and television presenter
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.
