Steven Shih Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1978. His family later emigrated to the U.S. when he was eight years old.

Jawed Karim was born in 1979 in Merseburg, East Germany. His father was Bangladeshi, and his mother was German.

Jawed Karim's family moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1992 after experiencing xenophobia in Germany.

Steven Shih Chen graduated in 2002 with a degree in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

About a year earlier in 2004, the idea for YouTube was conceived at a dinner party in San Francisco by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. They were frustrated by the lack of easy ways to share video clips online.

YouTube was launched in 2005 as a video-sharing platform, revolutionizing online video content creation and consumption.

YouTube was founded on Valentine’s Day in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, former employees of Paypal. The idea was born out of frustration with the difficulty of finding and sharing video clips online.

YouTube, a video-sharing platform, was founded on February 14, 2005. It revolutionized the way people consume and share video content online.

Jawed Karim uploaded the first YouTube video titled 'Me at the Zoo' on April 23, 2005. The 18-second clip was filmed at the San Diego Zoo.

Jawed Karim, one of the co-founders of YouTube, posted the first-ever video on YouTube titled 'Me at the Zoo' on April 24, 2005. The video gained immense popularity.

YouTube was officially launched on December 15, 2005, with the site receiving 8 million views a day.

On October 9, 2006, it was announced that Google would acquire YouTube for US$1.65 billion in stock. This acquisition paved the way for YouTube's exponential growth and dominance in the online video market.

Google purchased YouTube for US$1.65 billion in November 2006, marking one of the largest acquisitions in Google's history. This acquisition propelled YouTube to become a global media giant and significantly impacted the online video-sharing industry.

Google's SEC filing on February 7, 2007, revealed the profits for YouTube's investors after the acquisition. Chad Hurley's profit was more than $395 million, while Steve Chen's profit exceeded $326 million, showcasing the financial success of the deal.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt launched the new localization system for YouTube on June 19, 2007, making the interface available with localized versions in various countries and regions.

CNN and YouTube collaborated to produce televised presidential debates in July and November 2007. Democratic and Republican US presidential candidates answered questions submitted through YouTube.

On October 17, 2007, a Hong Kong version of YouTube was announced to have been launched. Steve Chen mentioned that the next target would be Taiwan.

YouTube was blocked in Mainland China on October 18, due to the censorship of the Taiwanese flag. Users were redirected to China's search engine, Baidu, until it was unblocked on October 31.

On April 1, 2008, YouTube redirected all video links on the front page to Rick Astley's music video 'Never Gonna Give You Up' as an April Fools' prank known as 'rickrolling'.

In January 2009, Google discontinued its Videos uploading service. Additionally, the U.S. Congress and the Vatican both debuted their official YouTube channels, providing unprecedented access to congressional proceedings and Vatican content for viewers.

In March 2009, a dispute between YouTube and the British royalty collection agency PRS for Music led to the blocking of premium music videos for YouTube users in the United Kingdom.

In April 2009, YouTube received a Peabody Award for its exceptional work in electronic media. Additionally, it collaborated with Vivendi to introduce the music video service VEVO.

In June 2009, BusinessWeek reported that YouTube was far closer to profitability than previous reports had suggested.

In July 2009, YouTube warned users about the discontinuation of support for Internet Explorer 6, urging them to upgrade their browsers.

By November 2009, YouTube started permitting the upload of 1080p high-definition videos on its platform.

In December 2009, YouTube introduced its automatic speech recognition service, enhancing accessibility and searchability of videos.

On March 31, 2010, YouTube introduced a new design aimed at simplifying the interface and increasing user engagement by removing clutter.

April 2011 marked the introduction of YouTube Live, allowing content creators and organizations to stream live events such as concerts and sports, expanding the platform's capabilities.

In May 2011, YouTube announced receiving more than three billion views daily, with 48 hours of footage uploaded every minute.

In October 2011, following the acquisition of Next New Networks, YouTube initiated its original channels program, investing in exclusive content creation for the platform.

In November 2011, YouTube introduced the 'Youtube Analytics' tool, allowing content creators to monitor their channel's performance by tracking viewership data such as audience demographics, viewing duration, and popular videos for better monetization strategies.

In December 2011, YouTube introduced a new version of the site interface with video channels displayed centrally, along with a redesigned logo and comment section.

On October 25, 2012, the YouTube slogan 'Broadcast Yourself' was taken down due to the live stream of the U.S. presidential debate.

On December 21, 2012, the 'Gangnam Style' music video by PSY became the first YouTube video to surpass one billion views, marking a significant milestone.

In early 2013, YouTube introduced the 'One Channel' layout for channels, which allowed playlists to be organized into shelves on the channel front page but removed custom backgrounds. The layout became permanent for all users after a transitional period.

On September 12, 2013, YouTube discontinued the 'video responses' feature that allowed users to respond to videos through a new or existing video above the comment section.

Susan Wojcicki was appointed CEO of YouTube in February 2014.

Since April 2014, users of the YouTube mobile app have been able to reply to comments on videos.

In June 2014, YouTube replaced the classic Inbox feature with a new private messaging system that required users to link their accounts with Google+ profiles.

In October 2014, YouTube increased the frame rate limit of videos from 30 to 60fps, providing a smoother and more realistic viewing experience.

November 2014 saw the launch of Music Key on YouTube, a subscription service offering ad-free music video streaming from select labels, paving the way for future premium content offerings.

In January 2015, support for the dedicated YouTube application on the Sony PlayStation Vita game console was deprecated.

In March 2015, YouTube introduced the ability to automatically publish videos at scheduled times, along with 'info cards' and 'end cards' for video references and thumbnails.

In August 2015, YouTube launched 'YouTube Gaming', a separate platform dedicated to gaming-related content.

YouTube Red was introduced in November 2015, later rebranded as YouTube Premium, providing subscribers with an ad-free viewing experience and exclusive content access.

In January 2016, Adele's music video for 'Hello' achieved the fastest 1 billion views on YouTube within 88 days of its release, setting a new record in online video popularity.

February 2016 marked the debut of YouTube's general subscription service, replacing YouTube Red and offering users a premium viewing experience with exclusive perks.

In March 2016, YouTube launched 360-degree video capabilities on the platform.

In September 2016, Google introduced YouTube Go, a specialized app designed for offline viewing on low-end devices in regions with limited connectivity, addressing the needs of users in those areas.

On August 29, 2017, YouTube changed its logo and desktop website design, introducing a new look with a white triangle resembling a play button.

A tragic shooting took place at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California on April 3, 2018, carried out by Nasim Najafi Aghdam. The incident resulted in injuries and loss of lives, shedding light on security concerns in tech workplaces.

On May 17, 2018, YouTube rebranded its subscription service from YouTube Red to YouTube Premium, offering users a premium ad-free viewing experience and introducing the revamped YouTube Music subscription service.

Google initiated ad pod testing on YouTube on November 21, 2018, introducing stacked ads for viewers to skip, aiming to enhance ad views and monetization. However, the move faced criticism and backlash from users.

YouTube announced the removal of existing annotations on all videos on November 27, 2018, and the removal took place as scheduled on January 15, 2019.

On January 31, 2019, YouTube removed the AutoShare feature that allowed users to automatically broadcast actions like liking videos, playlist additions, and subscriptions to Google Plus and Twitter.

Starting January 6, 2020, YouTube began treating all videos designated as 'made for kids' as liable under COPPA regulations.

On November 10, 2021, YouTube announced the removal of videos' count for negative user ratings ('dislikes') to protect creators from online harassment.

On July 28, 2022, Donaldson reached a milestone by surpassing 100 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel.

On October 10, 2022, YouTube introduced 'handles' for channels, providing a more memorable web address (URL) starting with youtube.com/@.

On November 17, 2022, Donaldson achieved the Guinness World Record for 'Most Subscribers for an Individual Male on YouTube' with his MrBeast channel.

In July 2023, YouTube began blocking videos for users of ad blockers.

On October 15, 2023, Donaldson achieved another milestone by surpassing 200 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel.

YouTube is testing subscription sorting and improving the upload flow for members only shorts.