What was the first Question asked on Google Answers, and when?

Need I say more?

Hi probonopublico-ga,

I agree with sublime1-ga's Comment that the first Question was a test
to make sure the program was functioning correctly, and then removed
since it was not relevant to users of the service. (Or less possibly
it violated Terms of Service and was removed, resulting in the same
outcome). Often in databases, the autonum (numeric) primary keys are
incremented such that even if the record is deleted, the index (pk)
number is never used again, and thus Question number 1 still has an
empty placeholder, if you will, although it has been deleted from the
viewable database online.

I feel confident enough with this scenario that I'm posting this as an
Answer. Also, since this Question cannot be answered for certain by
anyone but Google Answers staff, in the interests of completing the
Question I'm Answering it and reminding you that you may ask GA in an
e-mail for more information. Also, feel free to ask for any
Clarifications.

(Note: All Questions pertaining to GA are intially locked by GA, and
so I guess they for some reason didn't want to Answer this one
directly.

Good luck in continuing your inquiries,

~omniscientbeing-ga

Sorry ... but (so far as I can remember) I have never given anything
other than a 5-star rating ...

But, this is absolutely no reflection on you or the other researchers
and commentators involved!

Keep searching for the sniper!

Kindest regards

Bryan

Actually, I wonder what the real question number one really was...?

Just a little tidbit for the benefit of probonopublico-ga, you can
actually skip to whichever post you want by editing the HTTP GET
variable "id" on the url. E.g. this one points to Question ID number
1.
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=1

If you click on it, Google will say: "Unable to process request.
Please try again later." So I'm guessing, number 1 is a reserved ID
then?

I think I may be stupid, but why don't the first few questions appear
when you click on all questions in reverse chronological order?

Are they closed or something?

Thanks,

Bobby_D-ga

The lowest id number available is 2. The question "why is the sky
blue" follows below:

https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=2

If you're happy with this answer, I'll submit it as the answer.

skermit-ga

Hi, Skermit

Bobbie7 already gave that answer on 20 October @ 13.41 PDT ... but
it's since disappeared.

I suspect Bobbie has also disappeared.

Bobbie ... Please come back ... All is forgiven.

The "unable to process request" message might be due
to that question having been removed by the editors.
This would be consistent with the first question
having been a test run....but I'm only guessing.

The question showing as the first for public consumption that I
remember only soon after GA commenced was "Why is the sky blue". Other
very early but interesting questions included "Where can I buy a
burqa" "What is the meaning of life and everything".

The Question as it is not available. But from the Questions that are
available as follows



Subject: Why is the sky blue? 
Category: Business and Money > Consulting 
Asked by: birdie 
List Price: $5.00 Posted: 09 Apr 2002 23:47 PDT 
Expires: 16 Apr 2002 23:47 PDT 
Question ID: 2 
 
Why is the sky blue?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Why is the sky blue? 
Answered By: var-ga on 10 Apr 2002 12:38 PDT 
 

Subject: Wild buffalo herds in the US 
Category: Science > Agriculture and Farming 
Asked by: traveler-ga 
List Price: $20.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:02 PDT 
Expires: 10 May 2002 11:02 PDT 
Question ID: 3 
 
Where can I find wild buffalo herds in the US?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Wild buffalo herds in the US 
Answered By: researcher-ga on 10 Apr 2002 11:52 PDT 
Rated:  




Question     
 
Subject: Offsides Rule in Soccer 
Category: Sports and Recreation > Team Sports 
Asked by: curiousgeorge-ga 
List Price: $4.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:03 PDT 
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:03 PDT 
Question ID: 4 
 
When was the offsides rule instituted in international soccer?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Offsides Rule in Soccer 
Answered By: drdavid-ga on 10 Apr 2002 12:16 PDT 
Rated:  



Question     
 
Subject: Audio Formats 
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Music 
Asked by: harry_potter-ga 
List Price: $5.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:04 PDT 
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:04 PDT 
Question ID: 5 
 
What is the difference between sacd and dvd audio formats?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Audio Formats 
Answered By: researcher-ga on 10 Apr 2002 12:01 PDT 
Rated:  




 
Question     
 
Subject: Tourist Visa 
Category: Relationships and Society > Law 
Asked by: harry_potter-ga 
List Price: $5.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:06 PDT 
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:06 PDT 
Question ID: 6 
 
What are the best ways for a Chinese National living in China to
obtain a
tourist visa to visit the United States for 2 weeks?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Tourist Visa 
Answered By: researcher-ga on 10 Apr 2002 14:00 PDT 
Rated:  





Question     
 
Subject: History of calendars, time 
Category: Science > Instruments and Methods 
Asked by: curious-ga 
List Price: $15.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:06 PDT 
Expires: 10 Apr 2003 11:06 PDT 
Question ID: 7 
 
How long is a year? In other words, what is some basic history of
calendar
usage. When did we start using a 365 day year with occasional leap
years? That
kind of thing.
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: History of calendars, time 
Answered By: researcher-ga on 10 Apr 2002 13:59 PDT 
Rated:  





Question     
 
Subject: Muscle Density 
Category: Health > Fitness and Nutrition 
Asked by: curiousgeorge-ga 
List Price: $4.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:06 PDT 
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:06 PDT 
Question ID: 8 
 
How much denser is muscle than fat (in humans)?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Muscle Density 
Answered By: var-ga on 10 Apr 2002 14:42 PDT 
Rated:  



Question     
 
Subject: Violin lessons in bay area 
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Music 
Asked by: musicianba-ga 
List Price: $4.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:08 PDT 
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:08 PDT 
Question ID: 9 
 
Where can I learn to play violin in the Bay Area?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Violin lessons in bay area 
Answered By: var-ga on 10 Apr 2002 12:36 PDT 
Rated:  



 
Question     
 
Subject: Where to Buy Soccer Video 
Category: Sports and Recreation > Team Sports 
Asked by: curiousgeorge-ga 
List Price: $5.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:09 PDT 
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:09 PDT 
Question ID: 10 
 
Where can I buy the soccer video doccumentary entitled "This is Pelé"
(original
portuguese title: "Isto é Pelé")?
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: Where to Buy Soccer Video 
Answered By: researcher-ga on 10 Apr 2002 14:09 PDT 
Rated:  


Question     
 
Subject: 2001 Corporate Revenues 
Category: Business and Money 
Asked by: financerq-ga 
List Price: $12.00  Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:10 PDT 
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:10 PDT 
Question ID: 11 
 
What are the 2001 annualized net incomes for the following companies:
 
Yahoo Inc. 
Boeing Corp. 
Baltimore Technologies 
Google Inc. 
United Airlines
 
 
Answer     
 
Subject: Re: 2001 Corporate Revenues 
Answered By: researcher-ga on 10 Apr 2002 14:08 PDT 
Rated:  

 We already know most likely these were test Questions meant to fill
up the directories
 . We know the Second Question Posted to the Forums was on the 09 Apr
2002 23:47 PDT
 So most likely the First one was also posted the same day a little
earlier


Looking at the first ten answers available we see that only three
researchers are answering. So most likely it was one of these three
 Who answered?
:)
i.e. researcher-ga ,var-ga , and drDavid-ga  





 Similarly who asked it can also be deduced
Only a few nicks are posting at this time
 i.e. curiousgeorge-ga , curios-ga ,birdie ,traveler-ga ,musicianba-ga
, harry_potter-ga ,

Hi, Phi

Many thanks for your interesting comment.

Bryan