Happy birthday to the website that changed everything. YouTube turns 21 this week, and it’s almost impossible to overstate what the platform — launched on February 14, 2005 by Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, and Steve Chen — has meant to global culture. It began with the most humble of origins: the very first video ever uploaded to YouTube was a 20-second clip called “Me at the Zoo,” shot by co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo on April 23, 2005. That clip has now been watched more than 386 million times. From there, YouTube grew into something no one could have predicted — a platform where anyone with a camera could reach millions, launching careers, redefining entertainment, and creating an entirely new kind of celebrity. The 2010s brought the golden age of vlogging, with creators like PewDiePie — whose channel became the first ever to surpass 10 billion views in 2015 — turning YouTube into a full-time profession for thousands around the world.
The records YouTube has generated are staggering. The most viewed video of all time is “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong, which crossed its latest milestone on February 4, 2026. The most liked video remains “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, now approaching 8.9 billion views. The most subscribed creator in history is MrBeast, who hit 474 million subscribers in October 2025. And the oldest gaming YouTuber on the platform is Hamako Mori of Japan, who at 96 years old is still regularly streaming GTA V and Call of Duty. Twenty-one years on, YouTube has hosted everything from moon landing anniversary tributes to viral cat videos — and somehow, it just keeps going. Here’s to 21 more.
