By Kyli Singh
YouTube, with its bottomless supply of videos, is turning nine.
YouTube, with its bottomless supply of videos, is turning nine.
The first video ever uploaded to YouTube went up on April 23, 2005, nine years ago Wednesday. To commemorate YouTube's ninth anniversary, we've put together nine fun facts about the video sharing site we all know and love.
The first video ever uploaded to YouTube went up on April 23, 2005, nine years ago Wednesday. To commemorate YouTube's ninth anniversary, we've put together nine fun facts about the video sharing site we all know and love.
1. Paypal brought founders together
YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. The trio met at PayPal, where they were all former employees. YouTube's first headquarters sat above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant in San Mateo, Calif.
2. It was originally a dating site
2. It was originally a dating site
An earlier version of YouTube was a dating site called "Tune In Hook Up," influenced by the site "Hot or Not," which let users rate the attractiveness of potential partners. But the idea of a video version of Hot or Not failed to catch on after a couple of months.
3. What inspired YouTube as we know it
3. What inspired YouTube as we know it
YouTube's founders say two key experiences inspired them to turn what had been a dating site into the video sharing site we all know. Karim had had trouble finding footage online of Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction and, later, of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. And Hurley and Chen had difficulty sharing a video shot at a dinner party in San Francisco in 2005.
4. YouTube? Or Utube?
4. YouTube? Or Utube?
The domain name YouTube.com was activated on Valentine's Day in 2005 and the site was developed months after. But the domain name didn't sit well with an Ohio-based industrial equipment supplier called Universal Tube and Rollform Equipment, with the domain "utube.com." Utube.com was flooded with traffic from people trying to spell the video site, and its owners sued YouTube saying its business was hurt. Claims were dismissed, though, and Utube has changed its site to utubeonline.com.
5. And the first-ever YouTube video upload was...
The first video uploaded to YouTube, titled "Me at the zoo," made its online debut on April 23, 2005. The 19-second video was shot by Yakov Lapitsky and shows YouTube co-founder Karim at the San Diego Zoo. It has racked up 14 million views in its nine years online.
6. April Fools!
6. April Fools!
Since 2008, YouTube has featured an April Fools' Day prank on April 1 of every year. The first prank, known as "rickrolling," remains a classic: The featured videos on YouTube's main page linked to the music video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." From turning the site upside-down in 2009 to allowing users to submit ideas for memes in 2014, YouTube knows how to pull a great prank.
7. Surprising stats
YouTube says users worldwide upload 100 hours of video each minute, and more than 6 billion hours of video are watched each month. More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month, and 80 percent of traffic comes from outside the U.S.
8. Most Viewed Music Video of All Time
According to Videotrine, the nod for the most viewed video of all time goes to the music video for PSY's "Gangnam Style," with 1.9 billion views:
9. Most Viewed Viral Video of All Time
Not counting music videos, the most viewed viral video is the classic "Charlie Bit My Finger," which clocks in at 6.9 million views, according to Videotrine:
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