YouTube Goes Live
YouTube launched publicly, democratizing video publishing and creating a platform that would reshape entertainment, education, and media.
On December 15, 2005, YouTube officially launched to the public after a beta period. Founded by three former PayPal employees — Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim — the site made it trivially easy to upload, share, and watch video online. The first video, "Me at the zoo," was uploaded by Karim on April 23, 2005. Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in October 2006, a price many considered absurd at the time. By the 2020s, YouTube had over 2 billion monthly users, hosted over 800 million videos, and paid creators billions annually. It democratized media production, created entirely new careers (YouTubers, vloggers), and became the world's second-largest search engine after Google itself.
More in Science & Technology
Cambrian Period
The Cambrian explosion saw the rapid diversification of most major animal phyla, fundamentally transforming life on Earth.
~570 BCEBirth of Pythagoras
Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and philosopher, was born on the island of Samos.
~340 BCEAristotle's Contributions to Science and Philosophy
Aristotle made groundbreaking arguments for a spherical Earth and laid the foundations of logic, science, and Western philosophy.
c. 300 BCELibrary of Alexandria Founded
The most famous library of the ancient world was established in Egypt.