YouTube gains over 100 million video views each day and costs billions. But it hasn’t always been like that. So we in 4K Download decided to walk you through some of the most exciting and astonishing YouTube facts you probably don’t know.

1. Birth of YouTube

YouTube was created and launched in 2005 by three former PayPal employees: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim.

The idea came to them at Steve Chen’s place party in San Francisco when they were unable to share the videos of the event because of an email error.

The domain itself was registered on Valentine’s Day, the 14th of February 2005. Which possibly explains the next fact.

2. Original YouTube intention

Initially, YouTube was supposed to be a dating website called “Tune In Hook Up.”

But the three founders decided to alter the concept and develop a video hosting.

3. First YouTube video

The very first video on YouTube was uploaded on Saturday, April 23rd, in 2005. One of the co-founders, Jawed Karim, posted the video of his visit to the San Diego Zoo. In the video, Karim talked about elephant’s trunks. The video is still on YouTube and is titled “Me at the Zoo”.

4. The most popular YouTube videos

The most-watched non-music video is “Masha and the Bear”, a Russian animated television series for kids. At the moment of writing, it has around 4.29 billion views!

No surprise though that music videos are the most searched ones on YouTube. A song “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee is currently the most popular music video on the platform with 6.64 billion views so far.

5. Google owns YouTube

This fact alone is probably not a secret at all, but you hardly know that Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in stocks only 18 months after YouTube was founded.

And thanks to Google, the platform is now being monetised and lets the creators monetise their content.

6. YouTube success stories

In 2014, the famous YouTube star, Grumpy Cat, earned more money than Gwyneth Paltrow – an Oscar-Winning Actress.

Justin Bieber is another success story, one of the first YouTube stars to be more specific. He started his career path with posting covers on YouTube which were discovered by Usher who later paved Bieber’s road to the success level he now has.

7. The most searched YouTube how-tos

The most popular how-to tutorial that is searched for on YouTube is “how to kiss.” The second one is “how to tie a tie.”

8. The longest YouTube video ever made

The longest video that has been ever uploaded on YouTube is the clip by Jonathan Harchik and lasts for 571 hours, 1 minute and 41 seconds.

My computer couldn’t even play this video. Let’s see if yours can!

9. Localised versions of YouTube

In June 2007, YouTube rolled out several localised versions of the platform. People in different places would get local recommendations and features, as well as localised YouTube domains (.uk, .fr, .ru, etc.).

Initially, only these 10 countries got their own YouTube - the U.S., U.K., Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain.

Currently, more than 98 countries worldwide have their own YouTube version. Countries like Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Uruguay got their local platforms in January 2019.

10. Bonus fact

You can easily download any content from YouTube and enjoy YouTube Premium features for free with 4K Video Downloader . Download videos, playlists and even entire channels of your favourite YouTube creators with a straightforward app of 4K Video Downloader.