fan

1990: Slash appeared on-line this year in one of the first references to be found. This reference happened on Usenet in the Star Trek community. The reference was found in rec.arts.startrek’s FAQ. 1993: First slash mailing list created, run from a private list-serv on the East Coast. It was called "Virgule" (a reference to the / symbol) and membership was limited to women. It remained active through the 1990s, until more fandom specific slash mailing lists on Egroups and Yahoogroups became popular. 1995: Seven slash stories were posted to alt.tv.x-files.creative. 1996: On April 16, Michael Demcio's "Rhyme and Reason," premieres as the first Rescue Ranger fan fiction on Usenet. It was the first novel-length Ranger story, and the first story to explore the possibilities of the Chip/Gadget relationship, the first to provide real character development for any of the characters.