Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american scholar and author of two dozen books”. Today it says “german-born american historian”.
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
Walter Lacquer is an American scholar and author of two dozen books. His field is modern European history . He is a recognised authority on fascism and on terrorism , and has written extensive works on Zionism and the Holocaust . He has since the 1950s developed a consistent approach to political violence. He has held a number of academic positions. As of 2004 he is Kissinger Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies . He was a founding editor with George L.1Mosse of the Journal of Contemporary History .2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16995164.
The opening as it stood in 2010 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Walter Zeev Laqueur (born 26 May 1921) is an American historian and political commentator.He was born in Breslau , Germany (modern Wrocław , Poland ), to a Jewish family.His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust .He lived in Palestine / Israel 1938-53 and since then in the UK and USA.He was founder and editor with George Mosse , of the Journal of Contemporary History and of Survey 1956-1964.He was founding editor of the The Washington Papers .From 1969 he was member, later Chairman (until 2000) International Research Council of the Center for Strategic and International Studies , Washington.He has been visiting professor of history and government at Harvard , University of Chicago , Tel Aviv and Johns Hopkins University .His main works deal with European history in the 19th and 20th century, especially Russian history , German history and Middle East history.He has written on many topics from the German Youth Movement , Zionism , Israeli history , the cultural history of the Weimar Republic and Russia , Communism , the Holocaust , fascism and diplomatic history of the Cold War .His books have been translated into many languages and he was one of the founders of the study of political violence , guerrilla warfare and terrorism .His comments on international affairs have appeared in many American and European newspapers and periodicals.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 356574823.
The opening as it stood in 2015 11 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (born 26 May 1921) is an American historian and political commentator.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666622768.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American historian Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (26 May 1921 – 30 September 2018) was an American historian, journalist and political commentator.He was an influential scholar on the subjects of terrorism and political violence.In Celebration of Walter Laqueur's 90th Birthday: Reflections on His Contributions to the Study of Terrorism and Guerrilla Warfare".
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 956889006.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
American historian (1921-2018) Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (26 May 1921 – 30 September 2018) was a German-born American historian, journalist and political commentator. He was an influential scholar on the subjects of terrorism and political violence . In Celebration of Walter Laqueur's 90th Birthday: Reflections on His Contributions to the Study of Terrorism and Guerrilla Warfare".
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178228183.
The opening as it stood in 2025
American historian (1921–2018) Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (26 May 1921 – 30 September 2018) was a German-born American historian, journalist, political commentator, and Holocaust survivor . He was an influential scholar on the subjects of terrorism and political violence . In Celebration of Walter Laqueur's 90th Birthday: Reflections on His Contributions to the Study of Terrorism and Guerrilla Warfare".
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297419287. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american scholar and author of two dozen books”. Today it says “german-born american historian”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
terror
1
1
0
1
1
1
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
american scholar and author of two dozen books
Now
german-born american historian
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.
