YouTube launched

February 14, 2005 YouTube launched

YouTube is an online video-sharing platform that allows users to upload videos as well as watch, rate, and share them. As of February 2017, more than a billion hours of content is watched daily. WK As of May 2019, over 500 hours of video content are uploaded every minute. WK YouTube is the second most popular website in the world, only behind Google. YouTube founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. They were formerly PayPal employees. The first headquarters was in San Mateo, California, above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant. WK The domain name was It was activated on February 14, 2005 and on April 23, 2005, video upload options were integrated. Co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the very first video, “Me at the Zoo,” which featured a 19-second clip of him in front of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo. By May, the site had about 30,000 viewers a day. WK By March 2006, the site had more than 25 million videos uploaded and was getting about 20,000 uploads each day. WK In 2006, Time magazine named YouTube its “Person of the Year.” The site has become a vital platform for music distribution, essentially cementing itself as the MTV of the 21st century. In December 2012, “Gangnam Style” by Psy became the first video to reach one billion views. As of July 2021, more than 160 videos have passed that threshold (see the DMDB page “YouTube Billion Airs Club”). The 2016 children’s song “Baby Shark Dance” by Pinkfong! is currently the most-watched video of all-time with more than 14 billion views. Resources: Dave’s Music Database: “History Index” for more important dates in music history Dave’s Music Database: “Music Makers’ Birthdays” Dave’s Music Database: “YouTube Billion Airs Club” Dave’s Music Database: “Top 100 Videos of All Time” WK Wikipedia.org “History of YouTube” First posted 2/13/2024.