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November 22, 2006 - When two Bank of America employees reworked the U2 song "One" for a company conference, they could never have known that the video would end up on youtube.com. The song is so painfully bad that it has become an Internet phenomenon. But Universal Music, who owns the rights to the original U2 song, is not amused.
YouTube.com began as a classic Silicon Valley start-up in a garage -- Google.com recently bought the site for $1.65 billion.
October 19, 2006 - The rise of YouTube.com from upstart Web site to the Internet's top destination for video happened so fast that it seemed to all but the most obsessive Web surfers to spring up from nowhere.
Launched in August 2005, YouTube.com wasn't the first Web site with video archives. But what set YouTube.com apart was the site's ability to make it easy for technophobes to upload videos to the site and find and view what others uploaded.
The site's slogan may be "Broadcast Yourself," but a big part of the appeal may be the many clips taken from popular television shows or films that find their way into the archives. Visitors to the site view more than 100 million videos every day.
Slate contributor Paul Boutin reviews some of the YouTube.com videos that became wildly popular and helped spark more interest in the site:
The host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show appeared on the now-defunct CNN shout-fest Crossfire, and his plea to the hosts to "stop hurting America" was riveting. More people reportedly saw the exchange online than saw it on CNN.
'Lazy Sunday' from 'Saturday Night Live'
In December 2005, YouTube.com was flooded with bootlegged copies of the Saturday Night Live gangsta rap parody, "Lazy Sunday." For many new YouTube.com fans, this was the moment they got hooked.
Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents' Dinner
Some who witnessed this over-the-top roasting of President Bush in April 2006 said it simply wasn't funny, but millions of YouTube.com visitors made it a sensation in the days that followed.
Judson Laipply's Evolution of Dance
Far and away the most watched clip on YouTube.com, this six-minute comedy dance routine has been viewed more than 35 million times since the comedian and motivational speaker posted it in April 2006.
In September 2006, diligent YouTubers cracked the cover of actress Jessica Rose, who posted confessional videos as "Bree," a supposed real-life teenager. Once revealed as a fictional creation, her popularity on Youtube.com plunged.
YouTube.com founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley announced their $1.65-billion acquisition by Google.com with their own home-grown clip.
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