<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><script>
function boom()
{
  var a = document.getElementsByTagName('div')[0];
  var b = a.firstChild;

  var r = document.createRange();
  r.setStart(b, 1);
  r.setEnd(a, 1);

  b.splitText(0);
}
</script></head><body onload="boom();">
<div>b</div>
</body></html>