--- description: The first YouTube video "Me at the zoo" was uploaded 9 years ago today. title: This Is the First Ever YouTube Video image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The First YouTube Video Was Uploaded 9 Years Ago Today  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Apr 23, 2014 11:45 AM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Apr 23, 2014 11:45 AM CUT Today in Internet history: YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the first video “Me at the zoo” to the website on April 23, 2005, at 8:27 p.m, [according to](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw "undefined") the description of the video, which now boasts more than 14 million views. The 19-second clip shows Karim standing in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo and saying that the “cool thing” about the animals is that “they have really, really, really long, um, trunks.” [According to](http://www.toledoblade.com/Opinion/2010/05/07/UT-professor-made-YouTube-history-with-first-video.html "undefined") a 2010 editorial in _The Toledo Blade,_ the clip was shot by a high school pal, Yakov Lapitsky, who is now a professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Toledo. **MORE:** [A Brief History of YouTube](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1990787,00.html "undefined") **MORE:** [Why Amazon Video Ads Could Threaten YouTube](http://time.com/9104/amazon-video-ads-could-threaten-youtube/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/72892/the-first-youtube-video-was-uploaded-9-years-ago-today/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/72892/the-first-youtube-video-was-uploaded-9-years-ago-today/"},"headline":"The First YouTube Video Was Uploaded 9 Years Ago Today","datePublished":"2014-04-23T11:45:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:00.916Z","description":"Trivia","url":"https://time.com/72892/the-first-youtube-video-was-uploaded-9-years-ago-today/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/72892/the-first-youtube-video-was-uploaded-9-years-ago-today/","name":"The First YouTube Video Was Uploaded 9 Years Ago Today"}}]}] ```