Wikipedia's first sentence called it “a 2001 film written by henry bean and mark jacobson”. Today it says “a 2001 american drama film written and directed by henry bean in his feature directorial debut”.
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
Ryan Gosling stars as the title character. Summer Phoenix , Theresa Russell , and Billy Zane are also featured. The story was inspired by the life of Daniel Burros .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17275257.
The opening as it stood in 2010 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Believer is a 2001 film written by Henry Bean and Mark Jacobson , and directed by Bean.It stars Ryan Gosling as Daniel Balint, an Orthodox Jew who becomes a Neo-Nazi , and was inspired by the true story of Dan Burros .The film is loosely based on the true story of Daniel Burros , a Ku Klux Klan member in the 1960s who committed suicide after being exposed by a New York Times reporter to be Jewish.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370821296.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Believer is a 2001 American drama film co-written (with Mark Jacobson ) and directed by Henry Bean .The film stars Ryan Gosling as Daniel Balint, a Jew who becomes a Neo-Nazi .George at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival .The film is loosely based on the true story of Daniel Burros , a member of the American Nazi Party and the New York branch of the United Klans of America .He committed suicide after being revealed as Jewish by a New York Times reporter.British Board of Film Classification .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667839941.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
It stars Ryan Gosling as Daniel Balint, a Jew who becomes a neo-Nazi. The film is loosely based on the true story of Dan Burros , a member of the American Nazi Party and the New York branch of the United Klans of America . He committed suicide after being revealed as Jewish by a New York Times reporter. George at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival . British Board of Film Classification . The Believer at Box Office Mojo "The Believer" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 961378968.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
2001 film by Henry Bean This article is about the 2001 drama.The Believer is a 2001 American drama film written and directed by Henry Bean in his feature directorial debut , based on a story by Bean and Mark Jacobson.Starring Ryan Gosling , Billy Zane , Theresa Russell , and Summer Phoenix , the film follows Daniel Balint, a Jew who becomes a neo-Nazi.The film is loosely based on the true story of Dan Burros , a member of the American Nazi Party and the New York branch of the United Klans of America who died by suicide after being revealed as Jewish by a reporter from The New York Times .The Believer premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2001, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.It was theatrically released in the United States on May 17, 2002, to positive reviews, with particular praise for Gosling's performance.The film earned several accolades, including the Golden St. George at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival . British Board of Film Classification .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1174463356.
The opening as it stood in 2025
2001 film by Henry Bean This article is about the 2001 drama. The Believer is a 2001 American drama film written and directed by Henry Bean in his feature directorial debut , based on a story by Bean and Mark Jacobson. Starring Ryan Gosling , Billy Zane , Theresa Russell , and Summer Phoenix , the film follows Daniel Balint, a Jew who becomes a neo-Nazi. The film is loosely based on the true story of Dan Burros , a member of the American Nazi Party and the New York branch of the United Klans of America who died by suicide after being revealed as Jewish by a reporter from The New York Times . The Believer premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2001, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. It was theatrically released in the United States on May 17, 2002, to positive reviews, with particular praise for Gosling's performance. The film earned several accolades, including the Golden St. George at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival . British Board of Film Classification .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296742175. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “a 2001 film written by henry bean and mark jacobson”. Today it says “a 2001 american drama film written and directed by henry bean in his feature directorial debut”. 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
a 2001 film written by henry bean and mark jacobson
Now
a 2001 american drama film written and directed by henry bean in his feature directorial debut
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.