20 Year Archive on Google Groups

Admit it. You've always wondered when it was that the first smiley face emoticon appeared online.

Or when the Church of the Subgenius was first mentioned in a newsgroup.

Now you can learn all that and more, by hopping over to the 20 Year Usenet Timeline at the 20 Year Archive on Google Groups.

Google has fully integrated the past 20 years of Usenet archives into Google Groups, which now offers access to more than 800 million messages dating back to 1981. This is by far the most complete collection of Usenet articles ever assembled and a fascinating first-hand historical account.

Check it out and look for me, starting around March of 1987. Wa-hoo!