And so has begun my journey to getting the "Early Original Series Tinky Winky" flair

I love the universal dread of the day when torrents of conspiracy theories and pre 9/11 life questions flood the sub once the embargo catches up.

Just one more year and I can start talking about US-released Pokemon games, and watch my credibility on Italian history threads evaporate.

We'll have to remove this post due to its lack of historical veracity and paucity of primary source references. Sorry not sorry.

This is something that seems to be said every year, and it is as well-deserved this year as ever: thank you for making this one of the best subs on the site and one of the best forums on the internet overall. Thank you mods, and thank you everyone who's asked an interesting question or provided an interesting answer.

The title reads like a Papal bull incipit. Is AskHistorians part of the Vatican now, or vice-versa? And when can I finally get "expert in memes and rare Pepes" flair?

What does this post mean? In four years, you're gradually going to a different year rule? 25 or more?

What do historians have to say about whether Han shot first? Lucas, one of the great authorities on the matter, appears to have changed his mind on the subject. Is his early work correct, or has new evidence supported his change of opinion?

What exactly was the purpose of the Watcher's Council, and what institutional factors led to its decline?

Does the 20-year-rule mean that we can only talk about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer's Stone (the book), or does that mean that we can talk about all of the books? And what about the movies? Do we have to wait until we hit the release year of those movies before being allowed to discuss them?

To me the problems come when we are discussing questions that require to cover periods of very long term.

For instance, it would not be possible to discuss South Korea economic model of development without talking about some very important reforms that were carried out in 1998 by IMF. It just cuts the whole very fascinating story short!.

Or the Chinese reforms that made State owned Enterprises from very loss making and inefficient enterprises to one of the most profitable ones.

The last phase of NHL expansion (except for the recently announced Las Vegas team) was announced in 1997, so if anyone is wondering why it was decided that places like Tennessee and Georgia were considered ideal places for hockey, or why North Carolina was chosen for a relocated team (in addition to the previously-relocated Arizona franchise, from Winnipeg), now you can ask away (not that I have anything against these locations, and am in support of them).

Teletubbies?!? Hooray!

I can finally get an answer to the burning questions about Tinky Winky's sexual orientation now?

Whether Han shot first

Did anyone care about this at the time, or was it Usenet/internet nerd-dom that made this a 'thing' later?

Don't forget the 1997 UK General Election, AKA the beginning of Blairism and Third Way Labour.