23rd April 2005: “Me at the zoo” is the first video to be uploaded to YouTube

**Scott Allsop** (0:00)
On the 23rd of April 2005, me at the zoo became the first video to be uploaded to YouTube. Welcome to HistoryPod.
YouTube had been created earlier in 2005 by three former employees of PayPal. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim sought to develop a website that allowed users to upload, host and share videos easily through a web browser. At the time, distributing video online was technically difficult for many users because it required specialized software and large amounts of data storage. The YouTube platform simplified the process by hosting the video files and providing an embedded player that could be viewed directly on the website. Me at the Zoo shows Karim speaking in front of the elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California. The video lasts for approximately 18 seconds and contains no special effects or editing. Its informal nature has since been presented as representative of the website's purpose as a whole, which was to allow users to share personal recordings and other types of content.
After its launch, YouTube grew rapidly in popularity. The ability to share links and embed videos on other websites helped the platform spread quickly across the internet. By late 2006, the service had attracted a large audience and was purchased by Google.
The video Me at the Zoo has remained available on YouTube as a record of the platform's beginnings. Although brief and technically simple, it's often cited as the starting point of a major change in how video content is distributed and viewed online. The upload of 23rd April 2005 therefore represents a notable moment in the development of the internet and global digital communication and entertainment.