Supporters of Sarah Palin have attempted to edit the Wikipedia page on Paul Revere, the War of Independence hero, after glaring historical errors the White House hopeful made during her tour to Boston last week.

Changes they made to an entry on Wikipedia were deleted after an uproar among contributors to and editors of the online encyclopedia.

The former vice-presidential candidate's original gaffe came towards the end of a tour of historical monuments that was designed to boost her profile as a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate.

Visiting Boston, the seat of the rebellion against the troops of George III, she claimed that Paul Revere, a silversmith and messenger for the rebel militias, had "warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms".

As every schoolchild in the United States knows, on Revere's famous horseback ride from Boston through Massachusetts in 1775, he was in fact warning his fellow colonists that the British were coming. His role in ensuing victories has become part of American folklore....