# Straight Dope marks 44th anniversary **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 2, 2016, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-marks-44th-anniversary/744935 "2016-02-02T10:08:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**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, 2016, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-marks-44th-anniversary/744935/1 "2016-02-02T10:08:23Z")
Today, February 2, 2016, is the 44th anniversary of the 1972 debut of The Staight Dope ™. 44 is a numeric palindrome. And “Cecil Adams: mad Alice C” is an alphabetic palindrome. It is also a prophetic statement: o Mike Lenehan was Cecil’s original editor. The experience drove him **mad**. o Dave Kehr was Cecil’s second editor. He later became a movie critic, reviewing films like “ **Alice** [dave kehr] Doesn’t Live Here [doesn’t edit the straight dope] Anymore” and “Go Ask [cecil adams] **Alice** ”. o Ed Zotti became Cecil’s third editor, about 40 years ago. (His long years of service under the trying circumstances of being Unce Cece’s under-appreciated helpmate indicates either an undying commitment to furthering human knowledge, or evidence of the world’s worst case of Stockholm Syndrome.) “ **C** ” is the speed of light. 43.99 light years away, the inhabitants of the planets circling the star _Theta Ursae Majoris_, peering through their big telescopes, are muttering: “The _Chicago Reader_ has started a new column. They call it ‘The Straight Dope’. It will give us important insights about humans. I’ll bet they have eradicated ignorance by now. I wonder if they taste good in a stew. It makes me hungry just thinking about it.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-marks-44th-anniversary/744935/2 "2016-02-02T10:19:44Z")
Why have they been “fighting ignorance since 1973” then? In the first year did they just spread it? Edit: just looked at the link and it says 1973, so I assume the OP is just wrong and it’s the 43rd anniversary. ---
**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, 2016, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-marks-44th-anniversary/744935/3 "2016-02-02T10:24:51Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Why have they been “fighting ignorance since 1973” then? In the first year did they just spread it? > > Edit: just looked at the link and it says 1973, so I assume the OP is just wrong and it’s the 43rd anniversary. Yes, it turns out that I am an idiot who can’t count. Please ignore this OP and don’t read this until next year. Until then, I think we can all rejoice that this is actually the 43rd anniversary, and I will now go into hiding. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-marks-44th-anniversary/744935/4 "2016-02-02T19:47:32Z")
Wikilink to [Aaron Russo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Russo). ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-marks-44th-anniversary/744935/5 "2016-02-04T04:38:28Z")
Meh. Saying “20th anniversary”and meaning “19th” is common as muck. It’s the old cardinal/ordinal mixup. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_N.Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Guy\_N.Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_N.Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-marks-44th-anniversary/744935/6 "2016-02-04T07:24:46Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > It’s the old cardinal/ordinal mixup. The Cardinals never met the Ordinals in the playoffs. Just sayin’.