<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/youtube" rel="" target="" title="second most popular website in the world"><span>second most popular website in the world</span></a><span> was founded on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/today-in-history-february-14-what-happened-on-this-day/69cd2385-6c09-4003-824a-d42eaaf03757" rel="" target="" title="February 14"><span>February 14</span></a><span>, 2005.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/youtube" rel="" target="" title="YouTube"><span>YouTube</span></a><span> was created by Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim and Steve Chen, three employees at PayPal who became wealthy when eBay bought the company.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Looking for a new project, they hit upon the idea of a user-friendly video-sharing site after watching </span><a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/freeze-frame-the-2004-super-bowl-controversy-janet-jackson-justin-timberlake/97515543-96bb-4152-9717-841f5f494009" rel="" target="" title="the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show"><span>the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-12-what-happened-on-this-day-ron-goldman-oj-simpson/24f32b12-326c-4dfb-a355-11d67894a984"><strong><span>Piece of paper could have saved OJ Simpson tens of millions of dollars</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During that performance, </span><a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/freeze-frame-the-2004-super-bowl-controversy-janet-jackson-justin-timberlake/97515543-96bb-4152-9717-841f5f494009" rel="" target="" title="Janet Jackson's breast was briefly exposed"><span>Janet Jackson's breast was briefly exposed</span></a><span> in what was later described as a "wardrobe malfunction".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The three lamented they could not easily find video of the incident online.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But their initial plans for YouTube were not successful.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-14-what-happened-on-this-day-youtube/7bc2a368-9452-43ea-afe4-7c4390c64e02" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They considered the best path forward was to create a dating website where people could upload videos of themselves.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But finding willing singles proved to be a challenge, even after posting a Craigslist ad offering $100 for attractive women to upload videos.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/today-in-history-february-8-what-happened-on-this-day/8f3f20f8-a98a-4100-9617-b4b8c1bde5c3"><strong><span>Crowd gasps as Julie Andrews takes revenge in acceptance speech</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They soon settled on just a standard video-sharing platform.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Each video could only be 100 megabytes long, not much more than 30 seconds of footage.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They posted their first video in April that year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Me at the zoo" is 19 seconds of Karim talking about elephants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-5-what-happened-on-this-day/fd3ab70d-3622-47b7-bd02-b11bdf46e5f5"><strong><span>Comedy taken off air mid-episode after just ten minutes</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The amateurish and profoundly uninteresting video spoke to the appeal of YouTube - anybody could upload anything.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By the end of the year, YouTube had become a global sensation, buoyed by video clips uploaded without permission from their copyright owners.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The first hit of the website was "Lazy Sundays", a clip from </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-november-21-what-happened-on-this-day-who-shot-jr/b3c3eb95-0911-41ce-b231-d6159ff71a5d" rel="" target="" title="Saturday Night Live"><em><span>Saturday Night Live</span></em></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It attracted millions of views before it was taken down because of a cease-and-desist from NBC.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In October 2006, less than two years after it was launched, YouTube was bought by Google in exchange for $1.65 billion in stock.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the time, it was seen as a colossal sum of money for a tech startup.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2024, YouTube made $60 billion and remains the second most popular website behind Google itself.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Me at the zoo" has been viewed 381 million times.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-january-16-what-happened-on-this-day/d418398b-02f8-4877-8c25-c401da6b63ef" target="" title=""><strong><span>Hollywood's biggest star settled lawsuit over wife's death for $10</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span></span><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><p><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></a><span> </span><strong><span>and</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1"><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></a></p></li><li><p><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=9news.com.au"><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></a></p></li><li><p><strong><span>Sign up to</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine"><strong><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></strong></a></p></li></ul></div></div>