How did Matt Drudge become the Internet purveyor of sensationalist news that he is today? The "not-gay" proprietor of DrudgeReport.com is a man of mystery. The few details we know about him involve his appreciation for The Young and the Restless, and that's only because his former-escort friend Craig Seymour wrote that in his memoir. But because the Internet never deletes anything, Drudge's web trail from his early years offers clues into the mind of the information superhighway's greatest linker.

The very first web item from Drudge (perhaps ever!) appeared three days after Christmas 1994 on Usenet. It read only, "hello from sex drenched hollywood." More sleuthing from Steve Huff, however, reveals the entire crumb trail! For two and a half more years, Drudge's web postings would expand from conversational dribble ("we are so sex drenched here in hollywood. 65% of us city dwellers have herpes") to natural disasters ("The morning of the 7.4 Japan quake I was busy fingering Tako," where "fingering" is a technical term) to what we know him for today, scandalous reports on politics and media.

But here's what we could learn about Drudge based on his musings:

• He's emotionally connected to Madonna (no, really)

• He cannot predict the future

• He used that "fingering" joke way too often