I first encountered the 1996 TV show. Then the books, then the website, then the message board. The board was off of AOL by the time I discovered it. I lurked for several months, the joined on July 25, 2000.
Hard to name one favorite moment. Probably one of scylla’s story threads.
Oh yes, whenever I think I have a favorite I recall another. I wish I still had the link for Little Timmy Cthulhu’s Christmas Miracle.
I read at least the first book in high school which must have been when it first came out. I then saw the column in college in D.C’s City Paper. When I saw the banner on AOL I clicked on it immediately. I was there mostly for the columns. I know I joined the board but maybe posted once or twice. I think I used the same name but I’m not sure. When it left AOL I didn’t go looking for it. Out of the blue one day I decided to look for the column and found the website. I don’t know how long I just read the columns. The thought of writing on a message board felt weird. Eventually I did and I haven’t left since.
You are a noob – today is exactly my tenth anniversary – I will still have my cake icon on display for a little more than another hour! We who have been here for ten full years can definitely lord over those noobs who have only been here for 9½ years! 
Bwahahaha, all I see is pie!
(You get cake on your birthday)
My husband is two months older than me. When we were younger, he lorded it over me. Now that we are older, I lord it over him!
Another ‘01 joiner. Still feel like a junior member. But the 99ers are old farts! 
Laddie, don’t you think you should rephrase that?
Indeed!
Old farts don’t stink nearly as bad as fresh ones.
The definition never changes: old is older than me and young is younger than me. You 99ers are therefore old. I am just right. And folks like @Spice_Weasel are just babies! Glad that there’s younguns here!
So as a 2003-er, I’m young? Thanks, I needed that.
The one who smelt it dealt it.
(But he who denied it supplied it.)
One of the benefits of posting here is I always feel so young. I can benefit from the wisdom of my elders!
And there is, indeed, much wisdom to be imparted by us oldsters …
I joined in Jan 2003 so I just celebrated my 21st year here. I was a big fan of the Straight Dope books, and the weekly column was in the local alternative paper (KC Pitch). At the time I was assigned to a project at work where the manager required everyone to come in on Saturdays, but he sucked at making sure everyone had something to work on, so some people were swamped, and some people like me sat twiddling their thumbs. So I found the Straight Dope website and killed time reading through the old articles, then one day happened to click the “Comment on this answer” link and discovered the Message Board, and it was like Dorothy stepping out of the house and into Oz. A whole other world.
Happy birthday SDMB!
2003, lurker since 2001. I discovered the dope through some internet search, as I recall.
The party didn’t really start until I arrived in 2003 (thanks, overnight call center job!)
I still have my registration email, which has u=202322, from 2019. I believe (according to this post) is my member number.
I also have an email I sent in 2008 which includes a link to Straight Dope, so it only took 11 years to get around to registering. 
My registration email from 2001 does not include my user number. It does however have my user name and password, both in plain text.
Password security has changed a bit in the past couple of decades. 
The URL to complete the registration also includes both my user name and password, along with an activation ID that is definitely not the same as my user number.
I also lurked for a while before joining the message board. I found the Straight Dope web site some time in 2000 but didn’t registers for the SDMB until 2001.
I was watching a show on the History Channel that made the claim when someone was guillotined their head could remain conscious for a couple of minutes afterwards, which seemed like BS to me. I went searching on the internet to find the truth and found Cecil’s column on the topic. I was immediately hooked on Cecil’s articles. I eventually bought all of the books.
I was a Charter Member until I became a moderator.