Some EM birthday type factoids:
1) Yes, I actually made the cake. Not too much cake making experience, so it took two tries. Store bought mix, home made icing. (Yes, I screwed up store-bought cake mix. Insert Ingredient A into Slot B... sheesh.)
2) The very first public post made after the forum went "live" on Dec. 3, 2007 to the whole interwires was post #3 in this thread:
An Index of Cycling Links
(The thread itself was started by Ben before the site was actually open. The actual very first post -- #1 in the database -- was made in the moderators special secret area on November 15, 2007 -- EM's "unofficial birthday".)
4) The first thread started by someone other than an admin/moderator after launch was, appropriately:
Living with Expensive Gasoline