On April 23, 2005, the first ever video was uploaded to YouTube. Just a few days later in May, the video site opened to the public with its beta launch. That means YouTube turns 10 this month, and it’s celebrating the only way it knows: with its favourite videos.
That first ever video was Me at the Zoo which is the one at the top of the page. But over the coming month YouTube is publishing a series of its favourites from the the last decade — man, a decade! — to the YouTube Trends blog. It will publish videos that define the site, A to Z, over the coming 26 days. It has a lot to choose from: 300 hours of video is now uploaded to YouTube every single minute, as it welcomes over a billion unique users a month.
But, in the meantime, here are 12 of YouTube’s favourite videos that it’s picked out as being particularity memorable. So sit back, watch, remember and reminisce. Happy birthday, YouTube — here’s to the next 10 years!