Wikipedia's first sentence called it “non-fiction book by wall street journal correspondent yaroslav trofimov about the 1979 grand mosque seizure in”. Today it says “a 2007 book by wall street journal correspondent yaroslav trofimov about the 1979 grand mosque seizure in mecca”.
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.
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The opening as it read in 2025
2007 book by Yaroslav Trofimov This article is about the book. The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda is a 2007 book by Wall Street Journal correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov about the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca. Hundreds of Islamic radicals led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaybi invaded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca , Islam's holiest shrine, on November 20, 1979. The intruders included men from all over the Muslim world and a handful of American converts. Tens of thousands of worshipers were trapped inside the compound. The battle for the shrine lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and ending only after the intervention of Saudi National Guard and French special forces. Yaroslav Trofimov 's book provides the first detailed account of this siege. The book is based on interviews with surviving participants and eyewitnesses, including former terrorist supporters of Juhayman al-Otaybi, as well as hundreds of declassified U.S., British and French government documents.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1290544985.
The opening as it stood in 2010
The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda is a non-fiction book by Wall Street Journal correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov about the 1979 Grand Mosque Seizure in Mecca. Hundreds of Islamic radicals led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaibi invaded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca , Islam's holiest shrine, on Nov. 20, 1979. The intruders included men from all over the Muslim world, from Pakistanis to Egyptians to a handful of American converts. Tens of thousands of worshipers were trapped inside the holy compound. The battle for the shrine lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and ending only after the intervention of 3 GIGN commandos from France. Yaroslav Trofimov 's book provides the first detailed account of this siege. The book is based on interviews with surviving participants and eyewitnesses, including former terrorist supporters of Juhayman al Uteybi, as well as hundreds of declassified U.S., British and French government documents.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 322944605.
The opening as it stood in 2015
The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda is a non-fiction book by Wall Street Journal correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov about the 1979 Grand Mosque Seizure in Mecca. Hundreds of Islamic radicals led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaybi invaded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca , Islam's holiest shrine, on Nov. 20, 1979. The intruders included men from all over the Muslim world and a handful of American converts. Tens of thousands of worshipers were trapped inside the holy compound. The battle for the shrine lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and ending only after the intervention of 3 GIGN commandos from France. Yaroslav Trofimov 's book provides the first detailed account of this siege. The book is based on interviews with surviving participants and eyewitnesses, including former terrorist supporters of Juhayman al-Otaybi, as well as hundreds of declassified U.S., British and French government documents.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664634279.
The opening as it stood in 2020
The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda is a 2007 book by Wall Street Journal correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov about the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca. Hundreds of Islamic radicals led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaybi invaded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca , Islam's holiest shrine, on Nov. 20, 1979. The intruders included men from all over the Muslim world and a handful of American converts. Tens of thousands of worshipers were trapped inside the compound. The battle for the shrine lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and ending only after the intervention of Saudi National Guard and Special Forces. Yaroslav Trofimov 's book provides the first detailed account of this siege. The book is based on interviews with surviving participants and eyewitnesses, including former terrorist supporters of Juhayman al-Otaybi, as well as hundreds of declassified U.S., British and French government documents.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 941510731.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
2007 book by Yaroslav Trofimov This article is about the book. The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda is a 2007 book by Wall Street Journal correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov about the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca. Hundreds of Islamic radicals led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaybi invaded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca , Islam's holiest shrine, on Nov. 20, 1979. The intruders included men from all over the Muslim world and a handful of American converts. Tens of thousands of worshipers were trapped inside the compound. The battle for the shrine lasted two weeks, causing hundreds of deaths and ending only after the intervention of Saudi National Guard and French Special Forces. Yaroslav Trofimov 's book provides the first detailed account of this siege. The book is based on interviews with surviving participants and eyewitnesses, including former terrorist supporters of Juhayman al-Otaybi, as well as hundreds of declassified U.S., British and French government documents.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1043931574.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “non-fiction book by wall street journal correspondent yaroslav trofimov about the 1979 grand mosque seizure in”. Today it says “a 2007 book by wall street journal correspondent yaroslav trofimov about the 1979 grand mosque seizure in mecca”. Read the current article and compare.
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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
non-fiction book by wall street journal correspondent yaroslav trofimov about the 1979 grand mosque seizure in
Now
a 2007 book by wall street journal correspondent yaroslav trofimov about the 1979 grand mosque seizure in mecca
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.
