# Happy 50th birthday, Cecil! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210 "2023-02-02T15:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/1 "2023-02-02T15:43:01Z")
Today is February 2 and it’s Cecil’s birthday! First column appeared on February 2, 1973. > **[Cecil Adams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Adams)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Cecil Adams is the pseudonymous author of The Straight Dope, a popular question and answer column published in The Chicago Reader from 2 February 1973 to 2018. The true identity of Adams, whether a single individual or a group of authors, has remained secret. The Chicago Reader's 1986 trademark filing for the name "Cecil Adams" states that "Cecil Adams does not identify any particular individual but was devised as a fanciful name." As of 2008, E... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/2 "2023-02-02T15:50:02Z")
Correction: the column is 50 years old today. Cecil himself is ageless. He is as old as the existence of ignorance and the need to fight it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/3 "2023-02-02T15:55:23Z")
Happy birthday @Cecil_Adams . See? I remembered your birthday.🙃 Half a century. Wow! ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/4 "2023-02-02T16:02:13Z")
A link to the February 2, 1973 start of it all: > **[The First Straight Dope Column](https://www.straightdope.com/21344465/the-first-straight-dope-column)** ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/5 "2023-02-02T16:03:47Z")
Rod Stewart said it best: > My love for you is immeasurable > My respect for you immense > You’re ageless, timeless, lace and fineness > You’re beauty and elegance ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/6 "2023-02-02T16:08:43Z")
What a long, strange trip it’s been. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/7 "2023-02-02T16:29:02Z")
and, it’s taking longer than we thought! ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/8 "2023-02-02T17:09:16Z")
What, again?! ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/9 "2023-02-02T18:44:50Z")
Facebook claims he’s 50 today, and who am I to argue with Facebook? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/10 "2023-02-02T18:48:56Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Facebook claims he’s 50 today, and who am I to argue with Facebook?. But…the _column_ started 50 years ago. Are you trying to tell me he started writing the column the moment he was ejected from the womb? Well…being Cecil, I suppose that _ **is** _ possible… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/11 "2023-02-02T18:53:06Z")
Well, he had 9mos to think. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/12 "2023-02-02T23:24:21Z")
Hmmm. Was Santa Claus Santa Claus before he became Santa Claus? Maybe Cecil should answer that. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-50th-birthday-cecil/979210/13 "2023-02-04T18:17:07Z")
> [@solost](#): > > > [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > > > Facebook claims he’s 50 today, and who am I to argue with Facebook?. > > But…the _column_ started 50 years ago. Are you trying to tell me he started writing the column the moment he was ejected from the womb? > > Well…being Cecil, I suppose that _ **is** _ possible… I picture the whole thing working out much like this theory about a speeding ticket. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yRUtyCzfuI0/maxresdefault.jpg "Taika Waititi reads a hilarious letter about a speeding ticket") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRUtyCzfuI0)