# I think I've found the earliest SDMB thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 4, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801 "2007-02-04T18:09:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/1 "2007-02-04T18:09:44Z")
I got bored today. I’m supposed to be working on a PowerPoint slideshow, but after talking to the girlfriend, I decided to Dope for five minutes instead. Whilst surfing, I changed the address line to show: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=1) “t=1” didn’t work. So I tried [“t=2”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=2) and got something from '99. Is there anything earlier? Heck, is there even a UseNet alt.fan.cecil.adams thing anymore? Tripler Talk about Internet antiquity! ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/2 "2007-02-04T18:23:52Z")
Wow, it’s like Internet archeology! Who knows what other historic gems the Tubes hold?? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/3 "2007-02-04T19:02:39Z")
Hmm, link doesn’t work for me. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/4 "2007-02-04T19:10:42Z")
Oops. Ignore what I just said (and deleted, so it would be hard for you not to ignore it). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/5 "2007-02-04T19:36:09Z")
Only fitting that the OP in that one was Charter Member **whitetho**. His contributions are among the best researched on the board. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/6 "2007-02-04T20:08:00Z")
Yep, that was it! I won’t swear that there wasn’t a welcome message from **TubaDiva** , but that was definitely the first real thread. Took Cece a long time to get around to answering it, too. (Have _you_ ever tried removing a wevil infestation from one of [these](http://norman.walsh.name/2000/06/images/linotype.html)?) Geez, suddenly I feel like some old guy talking about the first time there was an automobile in town! BTW, [alt.fan.cecil-adams](http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.cecil-adams/topics?lnk=srg) is alive and well, though I don’t know much about it. Does anyone post in both places? ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/7 "2007-02-04T21:07:25Z")
I used to frequently read, but infrequently post on the old AOL board. Because I’ll bookmark almost anything, I had bookmarked the thread on wallpaper from the movie Titanic that was the genesis of Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share. Then my last laptop died suddenly, and that was the end of the link. Oh yeah, and I’ll confess that I’m putting off working as well. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/8 "2007-02-04T21:20:50Z")
That link doesn’t work for me. Is there anyone else for whom the link is actually working? I thought old threads got killed off in the great accidental purge… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/9 "2007-02-04T21:23:34Z")
It wouldn’t work, which was pointed out by the OP. [QUOTE=Tripler] I[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=1) “t=1” didn’t work. So I tried [“t=2”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=2) and got something from '99. [/QUOTE] The second link works. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/10 "2007-02-04T22:10:49Z")
It’s not actually certain that that’s the oldest thread, though. Way back in the Elder Days, we used to use UBB instead of vB. The switchover kept all of the threads, but it didn’t necessarily keep them all in the same order (in fact, it couldn’t have, since UBB numbered each forum separately). So that’s one of the oldest, but it would be very difficult to tell if it’s actually the oldest. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ive-found-the-earliest-sdmb-thread/390801/11 "2007-02-04T22:50:26Z")
> [@](#): > > 03-12-1999, 06:58 PM That’s one day prior to the oldest thread listed by **Aesiron** , [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5678867&highlight=atmb#post5678867).