Are you sure about that FR History in the box above? I seem to remember finding FR in 1996 and I don't remember exactly, but it seems like there WAS a forum in 1996. Hi, gooleyman,
I also was 'reading' some stuff on FR in late 1996; the information I posted about the "forum being started in early 1997" came from a thread several years ago about the history of FR and its founder. I know that it was in 1997 that registration was required in order to post comments. I don't know how to find that particular thread anymore, but the "100,000" being registered since it's inception in 1996 apparently is outdated - on the home page at present, Jim writes "over 200,000" have registered for posting privileges...... :)
"Who reads FR?
Over 200,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic since inception in 1996 and our forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and all around the world.
Hi Billie, I searched the Wayback Machine
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.freerepublic.com some time ago for FR and they show a link from
Dec. 21, 1996. Quite frankly, I don't remember FR looking like that, and it does show a link entitled "Forum" but it doesn't work.
Did you save any of the old articles from those days? Have you kept in contact with some of the people from back then? I was telling Dolly I would have to go back and search some of my old hard drive backups from those days to see if I saved any of them. I'll check some of them tomorrow. I wasn't thinking of FR becoming the Giant that it is today or I would have been saving all kinds of stuff. I certainly would have saved the ones I commented on. It would be interesting to see what I was saying back in those days.
JimRob is really to be commended for sticking to it all these years against some pretty stiff odds. Lawsuits, threats. I don't think I would have had the guts to do it. If I wore a hat it would be off to him.
Thanks for verifying that I wasn't going crazy and that my memory of FR of '96 is not a total washout. (OK, alright, maybe I am going a little crazy...smile)